A World of Darkness
by BloodyAngel93
Summary: AU. Bella is blind and has been neglected by her mother her whole life. Then one day her mom ships her to Forks to stay with Charlie the man she's only met once and that was the day she was born.
1. Chapter 1:Solitude

Chapter One: Solitude

I live in a world of darkness...I've been blind since I was a few months old. The darkness that blindness brings is my one constant companion in a world that is always uncertain. The solitude that the darkness brings is comforting rather than an enemy that leaves me in isolation. I was never much of a talker I preferred the silence that being antisocial brought rather than the awkward silence of having someone trying to make conversation with me. Everyone always seemed to not know what to say to me as if they were afraid that they would say something to offend me or afraid that I wouldn't like the same things as they did because of my 'disability.' Which was totally ridiculous i simply preferred other things not because of me being blind but because I had aged faster than they had. My mentality was that of an adult not a hormonal teenager. Though I had been forced to be that way and though at times I wished I could be more like others around me I knew I never would be...in more ways than one.

My mother was a person who liked to have fun and having a blind daughter hindered that. She refused to give up her partying lifestyle but did not want other people to think of her as a bad mother she decided to hire a helper, someone who was educated in helping the blind. In fact my first birthday consisted of my helper, who's name was Annie, and me and it was the same for my other three following birthdays and Christmases, New Years, and Easters. No one else attended because I had no playmates and Annie didn't want to invite strangers into her employer's home. I loved Annie even though now so many years later I have only vague memories of her, my mother decided that Annie wasn't helping me at all and fired her. I feel guilty still about that she was rather poor but loved helping people and she had needed the money that my mom was paying her, but I slipped one day in front of my mother and called Annie mom. I had cried and held onto her pants leg begging her not to go, not to leave me with the woman whom though was biologically my mother was a complete stranger to me. She had sobbed as she hugged me tightly and whispered into my ear not to forget to count to 15 every night so I would remember how to. Then she was gone. Out of my life forever never to be seen again and suddenly the woman who had not truly spent more than 10 minutes with me a week had put me into school. Kindergarten to be exact.

I didn't know how to count twenty and I didn't know write or read because I couldn't see to do either. Annie had told me that she was going to start teaching me Brail in the next few months but she never did thanks to my slip up. So during school I sat in the Principal's office or in the secretary's office and waited for school to end. I endured this agony for three days, three long slow days, before my mother pulled me out and found me a new helper. His name was James and he was like my father slash older brother. He was the one to teach me Brail and plan my birthdays and every other holiday for the next five years, until he met a woman and fell in love, then he could no longer live at my house and care for a blind girl. They moved and I remembered the day he told me they were leaving and he wouldn't be coming back. I had cried and screamed at him hating his girlfriend for taking him away from me but hating him more for letting her. He told me to be good and that I'd always be his little sister but I had to learn that people would come and go into my life and I couldn't stop it.

I went another three days without anyone to help me get around at home. At nine years old I still wasn't used to moving around without help. My mother wouldn't pay for me to get and learn hot to use a cane, so I stuck to the walls mostly. It was a miracle that i didn't break anything. Three days of having to crawl up the stairs to get to my room...my mom never even considered giving me her room even though it was on the first floor. I couldn't see them but I could feel them and I knew bruises covered almost ever surface of my body. Those three days were a lonely transition period for me but it was those three days that I believe the change happened; that I grew up and faced reality in a sense. Of course there were more helpers who were nice but I treated them indifferently. Most of them tried to tell my mother that I need to see a therapist because I was obviously angry about being blind so I was pushing others away. I had laughed when I had heard them suggest it...they didn't understand that it was better for them and me if I remained indifferent and no bond formed. Because though I didn't know when I knew at some point they'd leave forever and there was no reason to cause them and me the agony of saying goodbye. No it was better if they assumed I was the bitter blind girl even if their assumption was wrong. I had been nine years old when that change occurred.

That's one of the reasons that I'm now sitting on an airplane thousands of feet in the air heading to Forks, Washington. Mom said it was for my own good and than like always she'd left with her new boy toy Phil. She said that I needed to make friends but I knew that she was just tired of having me around. I hadn't had a helper in three years instead I had a guide dog...that was given to me by the hospital for the blind. Though the term dog fits very loosely seeing as she was a purebred wolf. She'd been born in captivity and had been going top spend her whole life their but when she had started flipping lights on with her nose and opening fridges. The volunteers at the center had been stunned and a little puzzled until someone suggested trying to teach her how to guide the blind. She passed through the program with flying colors and became the first wolf seeing eye 'dog.' with in a matter of weeks she had been given to me.

I loved her dearly she was the first anything that I had allowed myself get close to in eight years. She was my constant companion and not only was she a great guide dog she was an intelligent friend. Unfortunately she had to stay below with all the luggage that belonged to the other passengers on the plane. Looking around uselessly as I felt the plane start to descend I felt my stomach flutter. This was my first time on a plane and it was also the first time since my birth that i would be meeting Charlie. We'd talked over the phone of course but never had we met in the flesh.

A flight attendant tapped me on the shoulder and told me that we had arrived a few minutes later. She helped me get my bag and then guided me off the plane. I didn't know how I would find Charlie I couldn't see him and even if I could I wouldn't know who to look for.

"Bella!" I heard him call my name I could tell it was him by his voice. It calmed me in a way that my mother's voice had never been able to. I smiled slightly and then i felt him hug me awkwardly. "I've missed you so much Bells." He had I could hear it. His voice was thick with emotion though i did not understand why. I might by blood be his daughter but in every other way I was a stranger. I pushed those thoughts away hurriedly.

"I've missed you to Dad." The name sounded odd on my tongue seeing as I referred to him as Charlie within my mind. "Um...I did tell you about Moonlight my guide dog?" I asked a little worried.

"Yes you did. Though you didn't explain why you called her Moonlight." He laughed a little and I let myself let out a small sigh of relief but then I tensed up again.

"Well, you see she likes howling at the moon." It was a lame excuse but I wasn't about to tell him why called her that...it was to personal.

"Likes to howl at the moon Huh? What is she a Wolf?" He asked jokingly. _Crap so there was something I forgot to tell him._ Thinking quickly I nodded.

"Yes dad she is a purebred Wolf. She's completely tame though she acts like a dog mostly except for the howling thing and I've even gotten her trained to be quiet until I tell her not to be. She's been around tons of people since she was a pup. I promise she's harmless." I told him in a rush. I decided not to tell him that she had a very bad or good tendency, pending on who you ask, to protect me to the point of ridiculousness. She even had tried to bite a man when he had grabbed my arm to stop me from leaving the room that I had been in. He hadn't done it meanly he'd simply wanted to ask me a question but Moonlight hadn't known that...or perhaps she had and just hadn't cared.

"Bella, I don't know if the school will let you have her guide you at school...I mean they have to think about the other kids." His voice was uneasy and i felt my stomach churn. They couldn't take Moonlight away from me...they wouldn't.

"Dad, for the last three years she's been guiding me around my school. And need i remind you that one whole sophomore class consisted off over a thousand people. Not counting the freshman's, juniors, or seniors plus the faculty and staff. She never had a problem their that school is three times bigger than Forks High. This was what she was trained for to guide people who can't see and I can't see." I finished my speech desperately. "Please daddy let her guide me I don't want to be home schooled anymore." It was the truth I didn't want to be but not because of the people i encountered at school but because I learned from actual teachers. Not Brail textbooks. I'd never had a tutor just helpers...who would get assignment from the school and turn them in when i was done.

"Fine I'll talk to them though they won't like you can keep her and let her help you. Anyway lets go get her." I nodded and felt him take my arm and begin walking.

One hour and thirty minutes later I was up in my bedroom that I'd never slept in and thinking. I was petting Moonlight wondering what school would be like tomorrow there was bound to be gossip and talk. There had been at my old school so there would be some now I was sure of it. I just hoped that they wouldn't think me a freak and that they would leave me alone in peace to learn and enjoy Moonlights company. Laying down I closed my unseeing eyes and drifted off to sleep with Moonlights head resting on my now calm stomach.

edwardbellaedwardbella

As you can see this story is AU. But please tell me if you like it hate it or are indifferent. I don't care I cherish every review I get. Also this is my first attempt of Twilight fan fiction ever. Also I'm not sure if a Wolf could be trained for this job but for the sake of the story just imagine that this wolf could.


	2. Chapter 2: Agonized Angel

Chapter Two: Agonized Angel

My alarm clock blared its annoying song into my ears waking me from dreamland. Groaning I buried my head into my pillow wanting nothing more than to slip back into the blissful unawareness of unconsciousness. I felt my bed shift as if something was walking on it. Next came the hot breath on my the side of my face.

"Don't do it Moonlight," I warned my voice muffled and dull. She didn't listen and like I suspected she would she began licking the side of my face. "Ugh. Why must you torture me so?" I asked her as I sat up. My answer was a small howl that sent shivers of warmth down my spine.

Her howls always had a way of speaking to me she was able to convey any message she wished with her vocalizations. I hated that I had to teach her when to be silent and when she could vocalize it seemed a crime that she shouldn't be able to say what she wanted when she wanted. Petting her for a minute I wondered what time it was and if Charlie was up yet. Sighing I decided it was time to get ready for the inevitable that was school.

"Moonlight can you get me your vest please." My voice was polite and kind as if I were talking to a friend. People at my School in Phoenix often made fun of me saying that I talked to her as if she were a human when she was only an animal. I had laughed and suggested that perhaps being human wasn't all that it was cracked up to be. He hadn't understood and I hadn't expected him to even I didn't understand my words or feelings completely. But from what I had seen my mother do, and the guys that she brought home I had very little faith in humans. I barely remembered how kind Annie and James had been it was such a long time ago. But though I did not trust or love humans and hated to admit that I was apart of their race, I loved animals I just wouldn't tell anyone that could be dangerous.

I felt a wet nose brush across my hand as I sat in my void that consisted of only me and my thoughts. Reaching out I rubbed Moonlights head before grabbing the vest from her mouth. Someone had once described it saying that it was orange with the words **Guide Dog For the Blind**. That was her golden pass to be allowed to almost anywhere even places where they didn't let in dogs or their cousins. I quickly put it on her and fastened the two Velcro straps. Standing up I went over to my suitcase with the help of Moonlight. Whom despite my natural clumsiness seemed to be able to keep me from falling to much could not save me this morning. Maybe it was the fact that my surroundings were so new and unfamiliar that I was tripping more than usual...but four trips later I realized that I wasn't tripping over anything but air. Sighing as I finally managed to get fully clothed I called moonlight to me.

"Time to work now Moonlight." I told her softly. My stomach churning as I thought of what lay in front of me today. I didn't know why I was so worried it was like I had told Charlie Phoenix schools were three times bigger but then again that helped me remain invisible for the most part. I had a feeling here in a school made up of so little a population I would not have that luxury. As if understanding my unease I felt Moonlight rub against my leg. I smiled and felt comforted as I never had with a human touch before...of that much I was sure. Gabbing the ropes that were attached to Moonlights vest I let her lead me down the stairs. We went slowly making sure we were certain of each step before we took it. Once off the stairs I sighed once more.

"Dad!" I yelled. We hadn't discussed really how I was to get to school but I had went to bed believing that he would take me but now as I yelled for him and was met with silence I found myself doubting. I knew I had set my alarm clock right because I had gotten Charlie to do it for me that way all I would have to do was flick the switch and go to bed not worrying about not setting the time right because I couldn't see the digits.

"Well, Moonlight I guess we can go back to bed because obviously Charlie forgot that he had to take me and you to school." I told her as I scratched her behind the ears. She sneezed and I swore it sounded as if she were saying 'no thank you.' "I don't know how to get there...I wouldn't even be able to tell you even the vaguest of directions." My voice was calm and persuasive while inside I was in more turmoil. Half of me was happy that I'd get one more day to settle in, a quarter of me was slightly disappointed that I'd have to wait to start getting this over with, and the last quarter of me was hoping this wasn't a glimpse of what was to come with living with Charlie...if it was the only difference from Phoenix would be the weather.

Before I could stop her Moonlight was pulling me to what I assumed was the door and a few minutes later I realized I assumed right as my groping hand found the door handle. Moonlight was whining a pitiful song and it broke my heart to hear it. I bent down and searched for her face when I found it I kissed the top of her nose.

"I'm sorry girl please don't cry. We'll go tomorrow." Standing up once more I grabbed the ropes and pulled gently to lead her back to the living room that was somewhere to the right of the stairs. She pulled back more forcefully causing me to stumble towards the door. Her meaning was clear so clear it screamed loudly 'No, we'll go today.' I had no idea as to what was causing her behavior but i decided to humor her. "Alright girl we'll go. Don't know how but we will and if we don't well we'll call it a trip to see the scenery. Sound good." My voice was sarcastic and as if she heard my skepticism I felt her rub against my leg again before whining again.

Grabbing the door handle I opened the door and had barely a second to step out and shut it before Moonlight was dragging me off at a faster pace then she'd ever led me before. Wondering what had gotten into her as I stumbled and hear her impatient wine and her insistent tugging telling me to hurry.

"Moonlight, work." I gave her command to work which meant that there was to be no goofing off and the only thing she was to do was to guide me to where I was going and do it safely no matter what tried to distract her. Much to my dismay my words seemed to have the opposite effect of what i thought they would have. Instead of slowing down she sped up.

I was almost at a full run and barley had time to notice that the sound underneath my feet had changed to soft thud of grass to the hard thump of shoes on concreate or blacktop. I was almost at a full run when three things happened all at once. Moonlight came to a complete stop, causing me to fall on something that wasn't grass, and the harsh sound of tires squealing and brakes churning as they tried to come to a quick stop. I lay there for a moment waiting to be dead half hoping I would die the other part hoping I'd survive so I could yell at Moonlight.

"What was that all about? Are you trying to get me killed? I'm used to people being irresponsible and unpredictable but not you!" I didn't care that I was yelling or that a painful stinging was coming from my side and arm where I had fallen and slid. Smelling the ground beneath me I could tell it was blacktop...it had the tar smell. "You ran with me into a road and then purposely caused me to fall. What did I ever do to you." I was still yelling not caring if anyone heard and forgetting about the tires. Of course I wasn't sure if she had done it on purpose but I was positive hat she didn't seemed to worried as she simply licked my face.

"Miss are you Ok?" The voice was musical and caused me to turn quickly to my left. Now more than ever did I wish I could see for the voice was calm and collected and i sincerely wished I could see the face that voice belonged to. I knew that it must be as inhumanly beautiful as the voice that had been uttered from it mouth. Groaning i sat up feeling slightly dizzy.

"I'm fine. My **dog** won't be when I get up though." I mumbled the last part but by the sound of his soft chuckle I had a suspicion that he'd heard it. I emphasized the dog part because I had found out quickly that Moonlight hated to be called a dog...she acted as if it was an insult to be called her cousins common name. I felt someone bend down next to me and I instinctively tensed...i wasn't ever relaxed in another persons company.

"My name is Doctor Carlisle Cullen I work at Forks hospital are you hurt anywhere?" Though his voice was professional I heard and could sense the compassion in his voice as if he truly cared. I almost smiled he was a good actor that was certain.

"My arm is scraped up a bit as is my side I do believe but that's nothing a shower and a little first aid can't handle." My voice was weak no longer was it filled with anger just tiredness. I felt Dr. Cullen move beside me and had just the briefest of contact with his impossibly cold hands on my hurt arm before I heard Moonlight growling.

It was a terrifying noise that caused me to shudder I felt Dr. Cullen snatch his hands back quickly and then not move at all. He was so still that worried he had left.

"Moonlight, shush." I scolded my anger for her already gone only to be replace by confusion. But she would not be silence I felt her move away from my side and go towards where Carlisle sat. I heard her sniff and then howl slightly and whine before returning to me. Her tail was thumping madly and I wrinkled my brow in confusion. What ever had just transpired it had made her happy and that howl was a howl she only vocalized when she'd successfully completed a goal.

"I'm sorry about her she's never acted like this before." I apologized to Carlisle worried that he might be offended or frightened.

"Its nothing at all Miss..."

"Bella, My name is Bella." I told him my voice harsh and snapping. I blushed in embarrassment as my rudeness he didn't know what a sore subject my last name was. If i had a choice I wouldn't have one I felt as if neither of my parents deserved for their name to be carried one. My mom's because she's never called me her daughter and had never acted like a mother. Not Charlie's because I didn't know who he was...he was just a person with the same DNA.

"Ok, Bella we need to get you to a hospital so I can clean these cuts on your arm and side." He didn't miss a beat as if my reply to him had been the politest thing ever. I had to give it to this guy he was good. At the mention of a hospital I felt fear rise up in me. Fear that hadn't been their when Moonlight had been running, or when I'd fallen and heard the tires squeal and I thought it was my end.

"No. No hospitals. My dad will go nuts he'll make me give Moonlight up he's already unsure of her because she's a wolf and if he finds out that she got distracted and caused me to get hurt. I won't have anyone to guide me and I'll have to get another helper and be home schooled and i don't want that. I don't want to lose her." I whispered the last part as i clutched Carlisle's cold hands. Not caring at the moment that tears were pouring down my face and that i was showing weakness to another person. Because something told me that this man was an outcast among the human race and oddball as if he were truly one thing masquerading as something else. It sounded crazy to my own mind and I buried it deep with in it. I heard him sigh before standing up.

"Alright no hospitals. Let me go get my bag really quick Ok." I nodded as I sat here by myself. Moonlight began licking my arm gently causing it to sting slightly. I pushed her head away sharply though I knew that was her way of apologizing. Groaning I scratched her behind the ears feeling guilty for my harsh words and actions towards her. She made a mistake same as I had before and she'd always forgiven me so I figured I could do the same for her.

"I love you girl. I'm not mad just a little confused you've never done that before. i was a little surprised." I told her softly as I buried my head into her neck and petted her back.

"Here we go." Carlisle said to once more announce his presence. I hoped he hadn't heard me say what I had told Moonlight.

A few minutes passed in silence as Carlisle worked I scratched Moonlight behind the ears.

"If you don't mind me asking how long as you been blind?" Carlisle asked finally breaking the peaceful silence with his serene voice.

"Since I was five months old...so pretty much my whole existence." My voice was at a monotone level when I heard him chuckle.

"Existence?" His voice was curious and yet I swore I heard something else in it as well.

"Yep, I stopped saying life along time ago because that always made it sound as if i had one and I never have so I say 'existence' and it doesn't incriminate me of something that I don't have." I was surprised at how easy the words flowed from my mouth and though they were honest i regretted saying them for that very reason. I was talking freely and openly with a stranger how stupid could I get? I was shocked to hear Carlisle start laughing. "What?" I asked unable to stop my self.

"Its nothing you just sound like my son, Edward. He says the same thing." He replied as his laughter died away. "Alright I'm finished." I hadn't realized he'd already cleaned my side but I could tell he had I felt the bandages.

"Thank you." He helped me to my feet as I grabbed Moonlight's vest's handle.

"May I ask where you were headed to Bella?" I nodded my head and told him what had happened and where I was supposed to already be at. He had nodded and told me that i could ride with him to the school seeing as he had to pass by it getting to the hospital. I had tried to protest but I had no argument to argue...I was stuck and he knew it.

Once he'd dropped me off at what he said was the office building I went in and told them I needed my schedule. Walking swiftly away with Moonlight guiding me without faltering as if she'd been to this place a million times. Once I reached my third period class I knocked and opened the door allowing myself no time to become a coward and skip the rest of the day.

I could feel everyone stare at me and I could hear them whisper and then the startled and terrified shrieks of girls who had spotted Moonlight. She guided me over to the teacher whom i apologized for being late to as he gave me my book and told me what page and where to sit. After I had sat down i inspected my book with my hands...looking with the sense of touch. It was knew and it was Brail and underneath my hands i felt comforted. This I knew this wasn't strange.

The morning passed quickly with a few curious people coming up to speak with me. They didn't stay long after a few words they ran off leaving me and Moonlight in peace. Mostly though everyone stayed away from me because of Moonlight I could almost feel the fear pouring off them in waves. I would have laughed if it hadn't gotten so tiresome.

Finally Biology came my first class after lunch which had been spent in the library away from the hateful comments and disgusting whispers. Walking into the class I noticed it was almost completely empty which didn't surprise me I'd noticed people here liked to wait for the last possible moment before bursting into class not a second to late. There were a couple of people in the room though i could feel them. It was the cool thing about being blind that all my other senses combined together to make up for my faulty eyes hence giving me in essence five senses. The teacher to gave me a Brail book that was brand new and told me where to sit. The tables were designed for two people and I noticed that the one I was assigned to already had one occupant.

I heard the chair next to mine scoot away from me as far as the desk would allow. Holding back tears all the while telling myself it was irrational to be upset. I didn't even know who this person was. Soon enough Class started and as listened to the teacher drone on about things that i had long ago covered I laid my head down on my arms aand closed my eyes. The secretary had told me that I would be getting the Brail machine to in a few days seeing as it hadn't been delivered yet till then I was to make due.

Suddenly I felt the person beside me move and lean near me. They brushed back my hair and exposed my neck and ear to the cold air. Shivering I opened my mouth to yell at them but stopped when I heard them start to speak.

"Stay away from me!" It was a guys voice. And I was stunned not so much by the words or the fact that he then stood up acted like he was sick and got dismissed to the nurse but that his voice had been simply godly. So rich, and pained, hungry, and hateful that I shivered again. As I sat there and thought about his words I couldn't find fear not even a speck. i was curious to tell you the truth and yet i felt as if he'd said what he had for my own good but I didn't see why his presence was harmful to me.

The rest of the day passed by in a haze and when I got home I immediately went to sleep without changing clothes or anything. I fell asleep thinking about the guy's voice and though it had sounded strong I heard the agony that lay underneath. And though i didn't know why he felt agony I knew that no angel should feel it. As I sighed and stared up into darkness that only I could see i made a promise to find out who he was and why he was in so much pain.

EdwardBellaEdwardBella

So here's chapter two hope you like it.


	3. Chapter 3:I Wonder

Chapter Three: I wonder

Darkness is but the absence of light was what a wise person once said... and perhaps that was the truth if you were thinking of light and darkness in scientific terms...but there were other darkness's that enveloped people as well. Some of these darkness's were so strong and so deep that it strangled the person in which they had in their grasp. Other darkness's were like a gentle caress from a lover sweet and seductive and deadly. All darkness is dangerous for all darkness needs to feed on something as does the light but their diets like their affect on all living things are different. One destroys its victims until they are a mush of despair, sadness, anger, and jealousness. The other feed from the laughter of others only to give back more reason for laughing.

There had been darkness in the boy's voice when he told me to stay away from him. His breath on my neck so close to my skin was like the touch of a caring lover...both were dangerous. Both warned me on both an intellectual and a primitive level to stay away. They told me to feel fear and I did feel fear but only slightly and it wasn't the menacing way he had talked nor the soft almost inaudible growl that had emanated from his lips moments before he stood and made his quick exit. It wasn't that Moonlight had went rigid and had raised her hackles while snarling silently. Neither of those things caused my fear what did was something much worse. The pain that had been under the hatred like a hidden message waiting for someone to realize what it was. It was an apology mixed in with an agonized cry for mercy for understanding. What scared me was that he was a boy with both darkness and light within his heart and of all the dangerous diseases, serial killers, nuclear bombs, nothing scared me more. For never would he be peaceful with conflicting voices battling wars within his mind and heart. Whatever reason he had for telling me to stay away he both loved it and hated it with passion so much so it caused him pain.

I hadn't been able to sleep longer than two hours because his voice that made me both shiver in fear and wince with agony. James had once told me that, that was my weakness that no matter who it was if they were in any type of pain I hurt with them. He had told me that was probably why I wasn't the most verbose child...I cared about things that were to far above my head and to gone into later years that I wouldn't reach for a while. I supposed that he had been right as I heard my dad begin banging on the door.

He'd remembered me I noticed as I got off my bed and went to the door and opened it. I felt him stand there unsure at first before he began to speak.

"Bella, I'm so sorry I forgot and I didn't remember until I got home and saw Moonlight's leash. I would have taken you to school in fact I had planned to it just I'm not used to sharing the house with anyone and definitely not with someone who needs my help to get to places." I fought the grimace that wanted to emerge on my face at his bluntness. He didn't know this but his words were startlingly similar to those that were uttered by my mother only his were nicer and more considerate. But those two things didn't lessen the sting and I silently wondered why I even felt anything, why I had expected anything else.

"Its OK dad. I promise but um can I catch a ride today by any chance?" I asked hating my voice for betraying my nervousness.

"Of course you can Bella that's why I came to tell you we've got to be leaving in about ten minutes...I didn't know you were already up I hadn't heard the alarm clock go off." I felt myself blush and smile sheepishly.

"I forgot to set my alarm and the storm woke me up and I was unable to go back to sleep." The first part was true the last part wasn't. I hated rain that just poured from a listless sky but thunder storms had since I was a little kid kept me fascinated. The rolling blasts ...and the lighting I could not see but had once had it described to me, plus the wind gusts...I could almost visualize it but I knew they didn't come close to reality and I didn't know if they were better or worse than it.

I got no reply from Charlie and figured he had nodded to show he understood but he might as well not have for I couldn't say if he had or not...he'd once again forgotten his daughter was blind. I felt resentment flare towards Charlie but quickly asked myself what had I expected. He was still getting used to the fact that his daughter was living at his house let alone his blind daughter.

After the awkward conversation I shut the door and quickly got my books from my dresser. Moonlight was standing on two legs with her front paws on the window sill looking out. Walking over to her I petted her back and hugged her tightly. I looked out the window and saw only blackness as always.

"What's it like out there girl? Is it lively or lifeless?" I expected no answer and as I quickly put on her vest to work I had nearly forgotten my questions. They were meaningless really my reality of liveliness and dullness were different than others. I didn't have to ask to be sure of this because I knew people didn't have imaginary trees and other everyday things that got distorted in my mind. But as I finished with her vest I heard her whine two distinct times as if to say...that the outside was both.

"Bella, time to go." I heard Charlie call from downstairs groaning I grabbed on to the vest handle and told Moonlight to work.

The ride to the school was silent and undisturbed. I could feel Charlie's unease at the silence and I couldn't help but feel slightly bad for him. As we arrived I muttered a quick goodbye and headed for the schools entrance. Unfortunately I was unable to have a locker and they wouldn't let me leave my books in the office so I carried my five out of seven huge and heavy textbooks around with one hand. Not the easiest thing to do.

The first half of the day passed by quickly and before I had realized it I was sitting in Biology nervously waiting for the boy with and angel's voice. It wasn't as if I could see the groups as they came in but I knew none of them were him he seemed to lonely to arrive in a group. Plus there was something that pulled me like a magnetic force to him and though the want of finding him was strong the proximity pull was weak. As Mr. Banner shut the door and begin class I felt my heart sink into despair. Shaking my head I tried to rid my thoughts of him but the pull the weak pulse of it was almost nonexistent and that was agonizing.

I only half listened through the class it was once again something I'd already covered and therefore my attention span turned off. I petted Moonlights head wondering where he was and why I cared. He hadn't threatened me but i could hear the warning in his voice. As the bell rang and dismissed everyone to their next and last class I felt a guy come up beside me.

"Hi I'm Mike and I know since you're blind you probably didn't notice but yesterday the guy that was sitting beside you was acting as if you had stabbed him and than cussed him." I raised an eyebrow as I laughed with disbelief within my mind. Subtly was obviously not a skill he possessed nor did he seemed to consider it a needed virtue.

"Your point being..." I trailed off not trying to mask my irritation. He was the same guy who had called me a 'blind freak' the day before.

"Um--I--I was ju--just wondering...Wh--what you did to him." His voice broke and his nervousness rolled off him in waves. Trying to hold in my sarcastic laughter I looked down to where I knew Moonlight was. I pulled on the handle a little to tell her to stop before I stopped myself.

"I don't know what you're talking about I don't even know his name." My voice was calm the sharp clip to it was unmistakable. "Oh, and Mike I was wondering have I introduced you to Moonlight?" My voice was innocent my smile was hopefully the same.

"I um...no I don't believe so." His voice was shaking I would have bet my last dime that there was sweat forming on his brow. Smirking slightly I rubbed Moonlight's head before turning back to him.

"Well, we can't be having that now can we? Mike meet Moonlight...Moonlight meet Mike." I felt Mike take half a step back before stopping. I kept my face composed into one of innocence. "Go on Mike pet her...she won't mind promise." I felt him shift once more...uneasy. His fear was so prominent I could almost smell it.

"N--No I--I um Don't th--think that's --necessary." Fool.

"Oh, but I insist. It hurts her feelings if someone that she meets won't pet her. Go on pet her." My voice turned demanding. I smelled the fear now and the tension, heard his hand move. I nodded my head in encouragement as I felt him stop moving.

"Good girl...almost there almost ther...Argh! You stupid Mutt!" With that he ran off and the last of Moonlight's growls faded away. She hadn't snapped if she had he would've been doing a lot more than yelling 'stupid mutt' no she had just scared him.

"Good girl Moonlight." I told her scratching her behind the ears while laughing softly. I felt her rub her soft and yet coarse fur against my face as she gave my face a quick lick.

Gym was a boring period which was what my last class was. I was startled when I had felt the brail markings that said what I was going to have that period. More than startled I was slightly perturbed . I mean who honestly gives a blind person gym class let alone a blind girl who trips over air every few seconds. I had decided they were either highly unintelligent or just had a sick sense of humor. So instead of going to gym like I was supposed to I went to the library and read the only books they had in Brail...my very own textbooks. I was probably going to get into trouble by not going to class but what did they expect me to do sit on uncomfortable bleachers and read my textbooks there. Not going to happen when the chair I was sitting in was unbelievably squishy and I sank right in it.

I never heard the bell ring but I felt Moonlight licking my face and an impatient voice.

"You really need to get up...school let out fifteen minutes ago." Her voice was nasally and I recognized her voice as that of the librarian. I wiped my eyes groggily and pushed Moonlight away.

"Sorry I fell asleep.' I mumbled as I picked up all my books and called to Moonlight.

"So I noticed." She retorted. Friendly. "You know you can leave some of those books here I lock up at night and get here extremely early. I don't mind it can be our own secret." Her voice was rough and aged but I could sense a old kindness within it. I almost said no to her offer having secrets with someone involved forming some sort of a bond. Which in my mind could not and if I had any say would not happen. But my arms felt like lead and were weak from the strain they'd been put through all day.

"Only if you don't mind." I told her. Before setting them on the table I was standing next to.

After a quick goodbye I allowed Moonlight to hurry me out of the school building. Standing in the misting rain I waited to hear Charlie but I heard nothing. Sighing I closed my eyes and allowed myself to jut breathe.

"Well, we can't be waiting around here all day. Lets get home quickly Ok." I told Moonlight who just whined a little bit before setting off at a slow pace.

An array of bird songs reached my ears as we walked. Some of them were sharper in pitch while others lower and yet it seemed as if all were mourning or lamenting. Fitting seeing as that was how I was feeling. I wondered what challenges must those birds face everyday and were they anything like the ones I'd ever faced. I wondered like this a lot thinking about other people and animals and wondering if they were anything like me.

James had once told me that they were...that all living creatures were connected to one another and so all have characteristics of each other. When I had asked him what things did we all share he sighed and whispered. **'We all need blood to survive, we all need air to breathe, we all need companionship at some point, we all speak its just that we speak it many different languages. We're all connected Isabella never forget that. Its that knowledge that will always keep us in touch with one another when we have become nothing but faint memories to each other.' **I had just turned nine and was unaware that within a few months my brother, my Jamie, would leave me for greener pastures.

Eight years later I hoped that he had been right and that he still felt the bond for me that I still felt for him. When James left it had hurt worse than it had with Annie perhaps because I was older and I had grasped the true essence of what had happened and that James wasn't coming back. Because for weeks after Annie left I'd cry myself to sleep whishing for Annie, pleading to anyone who would hear to bring her back. For weeks after every morning was a struggle because every morning when I'd ask James if Annie was back and he'd tell me no and I'd feel the disappointment crush me. Making it almost impossible to breathe. I couldn't comprehend why my mother would leave me. With the help of my biological mother I began to comprehend very fast. She told me the reason that Annie had left was because she wasn't my mom...I had cried at first as she stood over me her presence overwhelming. Until finally my anguish turned to hatred and I asked my **Mother** what was her excuse for leaving me all the time then.

That was one of the few times my mother ever hit me but she conveyed what was needed in that slap. She stated clearly that she left all the time because to her she wasn't my mother and I wasn't her daughter. She said it all and never once did she speak. James had been there hugged me as I sobbed and sung me to sleep every time I got scared or upset or when I asked him.

"Little Angel sent from Heaven don't you cry. Here I am I'll wipe away your tears. Little Angel your light shines for all to see...go to sleep little one and dream of places far away...of people of myth and when you wake you can tell me what adventures you had. Little Angel sent from Heaven." I stopped singing as the song came to an end and as if by some distant memory I heard James voice stop with mine.

I Closed my eyes as Moonlight whined in sympathy. Sometimes I wondered how it was me who got Moonlight and why. Sometimes I wondered what the world looks like when you see it with actual eyes and not your other senses. Sometimes I wondered what Moonlight looked like and if she was as pretty as her howls made her sound. But now I wondered about a boy who was in pain, I wonder about a doctor who had been so nice and kind, and I wonder what my life was going to be like and as I wondered about the last one I hoped that it wouldn't be anything like the life I've so far lived. Tears escaped my worthless eyes as I wondered and than I wondered what would become me the blind bitter girl who forms no bonds with anyone...I had no answer for the last one.


	4. Chapter 4:Protecting the Pack

I forget how many weeks Edward disappeared for so lets just say it was two weeks.

EdwardBellaEdwardBella

Chapter four: Protecting the Pack

Two weeks passed by in a haze of blackness and a peculiar feeling I couldn't identify as every day in those two weeks my partner in biology remained MIA. 14 days of walking home and 7 of those days walking to school. I had that trek to and from both places memorized within my mind.

I was walking to school again...Charlie had told me that he couldn't take me before walking out the door. As soon as I reached the school I went straight to the Library and got my books. Luckily my Brail machine had come in so I would actually be able to participate in classes and do actual assignments. It was placed on a low cart so I could wheel it from class to class

One class passed, and then a next then another one, and before I knew it the lunch period had arrived. Figuring Moonlight would take me to the Library i let her guide me. But when the noise level should have been decreasing it wasn't it was increasing.

"Where you taking me girl?" I whispered to her as cafeteria food hit my nose and then I knew. "No. No way you take me straight back to the library or it no dinner for you." My threat was empty but only just and a part of me wondered if perhaps Moonlight knew that. For she only continued forward despite my protests sighing I gave up knowing it was useless to fight. She was to stubborn and to strong.

I heard the talking babble die away as I passed through the doorway. Blushing crimson as I imagined hundreds of eyes on me. I felt Moonlight beginning to walk again more slowly this time I assumed because of the tables and the number of people in one place. Walking in sync with her I let her guide me slightly scared as to where she was leading me.

I heard the friction of someone moving their leg beside me and then the pressure on my leg then I was falling fast. The ground met me quickly and painfully. I let out a strangled scream as I felt my arm snap underneath me. Blinding hot was the pain as it pulsated from my forearm up into my shoulder and chest.

"You should really watch where you're going...wait you can't you're blind. Does your arm hurt blind girl." The voice was that of a female's and her tone was nasally. I cringed at the sound of it. I somehow knew she was the one that had tripped me and as soon as I realized that knowledge I felt Moonlight's vest handle leave my hand forcefully.

"Moonlight!" I yelled gasping for breath. I wondered vaguely where everyone was at r if they had perhaps left for the cafeteria was completely silent. Moonlight didn't respond to me in anyway that i could tell. Then a bloodcurdling scream ripped through the air and what little breath I had regained was stolen away as I heard the ferocious growling of Moonlight.

I recognized the nasally quality the scream had and realized who had made it and though I knew it was wrong I couldn't help but feel a little satisfaction but that soon disappeared as Moonlight's growls turned even fiercer. I worried that maybe she would do something that would lead to her demise and at that thought of loosing her I couldn't contain the emotions that bubbled forth within me.

"Moonlight, don't you dare hurt her...come on girl she's not worth it." all i got was more growling and people started screaming...a delayed reaction i hoped and not because of something that my only friend had done. "Moonlight, please...please baby I need you. I need you to work ok? Please..." I whispered the last word as uncontrollable sobs overtook me. part from the pain and the hideous images that kept coming to me about how they would kill Moonlight if she harmed the person she now held captive.

I heard quick movement coming towards me and I prayed that who ever it was had mercy.

"Edward, don't even think about it. That's a wolf...you know the legends their bound to those who were created for one purpose...to kill us. Don't be an idiot let someone else get that thing away from _**Lauren.**_" Whoever it was that had spoken had a heavenly quality to their voice and yet I heard something in it as if it wasn't sure how to worry about other people, like it was used to worrying about only itself.

I felt anger begin to bubble up inside me...at the foolishness of the girls statement. Wolves were natural born predators but not crazed killers created to kill humans. That was a self centered assumption to believe the creator created a special breed to destroy humans. '_we're not that special.' _I couldn't help but think before my thoughts turned back to Moonlight.

"Stop being superstitious and of course I remember the legends I was the one to tell them to you."_ Edward._ It had to be him but if it was than he was the same boy who'd haunted me for weeks. His voice was sweet, melodic, and I was sure that even the creator of all things would not have as heavenly a voice as him.

I heard him move his presence stood like a beacon within my mind lighting up a world of darkness that had only ever seen darkness. Moonlight's growls continued though as if their was no screaming or any type of conversation.

"Easy Moonlight...easy girl. Your master needs you now...the teachers have got Lauren. Come on..." I sat up my shoulders tense wondering if he was doing what very few would have dared done. To confront a wolf who was angry that someone had tried to hurt one of its own pack. He was either very brave or very stupid but I found both to be incredibly endearing. "That's a good girl." His voice broke through my examination of him. I heard a click of nails on concrete and then a wet nose on the side of my face.

"Hey Moonlight, you didn't do anything to horrible did you?" I asked my voice scared...planning escape routes that I could take with her but there wasn't many because their wasn't much a blind girl could do. I barley took any notice of the gasp of people at Moonlight's sudden change in demeanor.

"She attacked me! That monster should be shot!" I heard whom I presumed was Lauren. Her angry screams were met with many approvals from the crowd for they had no problem voicing their opinions.

"Yeah, that thing is insane...did you see the look in its eye...it was of bloodlust." _Mike._ his voice stood out harshly cold and uncaring...immature to his very essence. I felt someone bend down next to me nd wrap an arm around my shoulder.

"A monster? Bloodlust? That's nonsense...to me it simply looked as if she were keeping Lauren pinned until someone could get to her albeit she did it rather forcefully she did it to protect. We all saw what Lauren did and if you didn't you heard what she said in Moonlight's mind Lauren was trying to hurt Bella and she didn't like that. You could call it her instinct to protect those within her back in other words Bella but is that not what we do as human when one of are family members are threatened or hurt? Do we not go for the one who caused are loved one pain?" It was Edward's voice as he talked softly and seductively and yet I heard the power the strength in his voice.

I didn't know who's arm was around me in support but i did know that they were female and that they feared Moonlight but not because of what she'd just done but because of something else. I didn't know what else there could be perhaps just the superstitions about wolves being man killers but I felt it was more. Never had my gut feelings spoken so loud but now they screamed at me to find the missing puzzle piece but i couldn't, didn't even know where to possibly start.

I heard a few people agree with Edward as he finished his speech but i feared it wouldn't be enough. From what I had been subjected to since coming to Forks it was that everyone was biased and crooked in some sense. Even my own father...who favored some more than others. I knew that to be just pure human nature but Forks was like a hole with no ladder so all prejudice of all things different piled up until it was overflowing like a fountain spewing forth water from and infinite supply source. I feared that today would decide if i once more was destined to walk by myself alone in a world that held no prisoners and smiled upon only a selected few.

"It'll be all right...shhh please don't cry." The girl's voice was sweet and angelic. I hadn't noticed that tears were pouring down my cheeks or that Moonlight was whining as she licked my cheek.

"There going to take her..."I didn't know what possessed me to say it or why I divulged my biggest fear to a complete stranger. I felt the girl gasp slightly as she heard my broken voice that was no more than a whisper. I couldn't help the sobs that's began wracking my body as I pleaded with every god and goddess of the universe to have mercy and not to take my only friend away. _I don't want to go back to the way I was before._ Was the only thought that I could process.

I didn't notice the Cafeteria clearing or that the girl was rubbing soothing circles on my back. I had buried my head into the neck of Moonlight and whispered over and over away from me. "please don't leave me, please."

"She won't." I hadn't noticed Edward coming over to me and kneeling down to the side of me. I felt my chin being lifted up and my head being turned towards him by one of his impossibly cold finger. "She won't leave you. They won't take her...I'll make sure it." His voice was serious and determined and yet compassionate and some other emotion I couldn't Identify. His presence was overpowering...the wondrous smell that radiated off of him...his cold fingers somehow warmed me in away my heart had never felt.

I wanted to believe him but was afraid to believe in something that could at any moment fall away. But something in his voice in his touch told me that he could keep his promise and though I didn't know how he would be able to and knowing I would probably regret it later I allowed my self to believe him. Believe in my gut that was though still screaming about a missing piece was also yelling to believe and hope. It had been along time since i had hoped anything and I wondered if hope held grudges and punished those who held no faith in it. If it did I knew Moonlight held no chance and neither did I for death would surely meet me if she were to be taken. My heart would not be able to bear the pain and it would explode and I Isabella Marie Swan would be no more.


	5. Chapter 5:Goodbye Friend

Chapter Five: Goodbye Friend

Chapter Five: Goodbye Friend

I was aware of someone carrying me but not who it was, I was aware of being put into the backseat of a car but not who owned the, I was aware of someone putting me in my bed with a feathery kiss on my forehead but not to whom those cold lips belonged to. I found it odd that the whines coming from Moonlight were happy ones as if she had accomplished what she'd set out to do. She didn't seem grasp the seriousness of the situation and her innocence in that matter only caused me to sob more. I wasn't aware that I was suddenly alone with only Moonlight to give me comfort, whom like a loyal friend did just that.

Nuzzling me with her muzzle into the side of my neck she let out low whines. That I had researched when I had first gotten her and discovered that she was vocalizing concern and was trying to make me feel better. Her comfort meant much but did little to help my emotional state because I knew that soon her doing such things would be nothing more than a faint memory. My sobs at first were loud harsh but within minutes they quieted into silence but that did not mean the tears had stopped falling or that my heart had stopped breaking. Finally my body could take no more and forced my mind into the unconsciousness of sleep where I was met by very little comfort.

_**I was walking that much I could tell…it was funny that even within my dreams I'm blind. Moonlight was beside me, guiding me faithfully as she had always done. I was happy that much I could tell something told me that that would not last very long. The birds chirped different songs but tying them together as a symphony. It was pure beauty innocent and than it was silent….**_

_**Dread rolled into my stomach like that of an unwelcome guest and sweat began to bead at my forehead. I didn't know why the birds had suddenly gone silent but they had and something in the silence was all knowing as if they saw what I couldn't and knew what my fate would be.**_

_**"There's that godforsaken animal…..the man who personally shoots it I will pay over 1,000 to you personally." A harsh man screaming I felt Moonlight stiffen and bile rose in my throat…this is what they'd come for. To kill my only friend the only one who cared about what happened to the bitter blind girl. They couldn't take her Edward promised that they wouldn't. **_

_**A shot stunned the knowing silence covering up my scream but not masking Moonlight's howl of pain…whimpers as a second, third shot were fired off. I knew they'd found their mark for Moonlight had collapsed. I sank to my knees my hands running feverishly over her wet blood soaked coat. The stench was strong iron and salt it did nothing for my stomach. I felt Moonlight move slightly while crying in pain….my heart broke into a million pieces…the bullets were killing and her dying was killing me….**_

_**I heard the men laugh and a few women as well…..I heard them scream the 'monster's dead' but I couldn't help but wonder as I laid my cheek on Moonlights wet fur…who were truly the monsters. I felt Moonlight give a shuddering gasp before ceased breathing all together. I screamed as I felt her spirit float away madding pain enveloped my senses and as I sobbed with my arms wrapped around moonlight's lifeless body I cried out.**_

_**"You promised Edward! You promised….why'd you let them take her? Why…? **_

My own screaming woke me and Moonlight's frantic whines as she licked my face and hands. My body was drenched in cold sweat and my body shook with what I had just dreamed. I prayed that what my subconscious had conjured up would not come into being. Tears splattered my cheeks and so forcefully did they fall and in such quantity that the trail they left burned.

I quickly grabbed Moonlight and wouldn't let go of her as I whisper once more, "don't leave…don't leave me." I sunk back into my slightly damp sheets trying to calm my nerves by telling myself I would not let what I had dreamed come true but my pessimistic side of me couldn't help but tell me that even if I tried their wasn't much a blind girl could do. As I closed my eyes I tried to rid myself of the images that seemed to have imprinted on the bottom of my eyelids making me relive my dream each time I shut my eyes.

As I felt my body calm and my mind begin to shut down with exhaustion I thought I heard the softest music…like a lullaby. My tired mind recognized its beauty and allowed my mouth to smile slightly in appreciation. Then a darkness enveloped my body as my mind once more succumbed to sleep and the terrors it held.

EdwardBellaEdwardBella

I know its short but I'm at school and will post more with in the next day or too. Please review and tell me what you think.


	6. Chapter 6:Riverside Meeting

Chapter Six: Riverside Meeting

Sleep came peacefully to me after my nightmare it seemed as if my demons had decided to be nice but somehow I doubted it...I couldn't help but feel that they'd been driven out at least until morning light. When I woke up all the sounds and memories from the day before and from he night that I had just escaped came rushing back to me with tremendous force. I didn't want to go to school afraid of the reception I knew I would receive and what they'd due about Moonlight. I knew that she hadn't bitten Lauren or anyone else for that matter but I didn't know if anyone would be willing to admit that to the teachers and principal, and anyone else who got involved. I didn't know if they would because i was the knew girl who was disabled and Lauren thought everyone considered her a royal bitch she was still one of the top people in the social hierarchy.

I wished that Moonlight hadn't done what she had but I didn't blame her she only did what was natural and if I was being honest I would have done the same minus the growling and baring of teeth. Dressing I debated school it wasn't a long debate and my decision though could be considered cowardly but the decision to stay home eased my churning stomach and stopped me from sweating profusely. Charlie wasn't there when I had gotten up and I couldn't remember if he had been home the night before. I figured if he had been he would at least have checked up on me but then again that thought could have been wishful thinking on my part that he would.

Once dressed I called Moonlight to me who had been dosing on my bed at complete ease though there was a smug air about her. I wondered if she knew the trouble she had caused and if she did why was she smug about it. Quickly putting on her vest I grabbed the handle and allowed her to slowly guide me down the stairs...she guided me to the kitchen. I could tell my the change in noise of her feet hitting the linoleum instead of carpet. Counting the cabinets as I ran my hand a crossed them, I stooped at number five which was the first one to the right of the stove. opening the door I reached up on tiptoes and got the box furthest to the left...pulling it down I grabbed a granola bar before putting the box back in its designated place.

Within a minute I'd devoured it I hadn't eaten since yesterday morning breakfast and my stomach was protesting loudly still after my miniscule breakfast. Grabbing a holf of Moonlight once more I allowed her to walk me to the door before I told her to stop. Feeling the wracks where coats hung I searched until I felt the leash made up of leather. Clipping it to the vest handles it allowed her to have more freedom and gave my arm a chance to rest. Opening the door i allowed her to lead me around our yard for a minute while she did her business.

"Moonlight, forest." That's all I told her trusting that she wouldn't lead me to far and that if she did she'd know how to get back. some may have called it dumb or foolhardy but to me it seemed natural. I trusted Her more than anyone else on the earth and at times I wondered if she knew that.

Because sometimes in her actions there were hints that suggested she did...little movements that made me wonder but then again that could have been my head giving an animal human emotions. But maybe they weren't human emotions from what I'd experienced animals were more humane than those who were 'human.' At least animals protected their young by instinct sometimes with their very life while humans abandoned, neglected, abused their young sometimes to the point of death. The animals who ran in groups fought together, ate together, slept and completely lived together. While human families gave up on one another, stab each other in the back, tell lies about one another, became estranged from each other. Who were truly the 'humane' ones and who were the 'animals?'

It was a questioned I'd pondered for most of my life ever since James had gotten me out and allowed me to interact with animals and showed me everything from the everyday dog to lions who'd grown up in captivity. He'd always tell me just because you can't see with your eyes Isabella doesn't mean you can't see with your other senses. He'd go on to say that he thought that sometimes having eyesight was the true handicap because those who didn't have it often saw the world as it truly was not as how it looked. I wondered if he had been right but I figured I'd always wondered because never would i truly have the experience of seeing the world from both sides of the coin.

A good thirty minutes passed before Moonlight began slowing down and though the noise of human civilization had long faded into the oblivion mother nature's noise was starting its symphony. The birds echoed their piping songs, while small animals rustled in the bushes on all sides of me. Trees creaked as wind blew through them and the slight pattering of rain on stones, dirt, and leaves created a beat all its own though it flowed seamlessly with the other sounds. The smell of damp earth and trees filled my nose, it was my third favorite smell in the world Moonlight and fresh cut onions being my first and second favorite.

Finally Moonlight stopped and before I could ask her where she had taken us she had my wrist in her mouth and was gently tugging down. Her way of telling me to sit. I was once more amazed at how gentle she could be and though she'd shown me on countless occasions in the last three years that she could be exceedingly gentle it never ceased to amaze me. She had set her mouth around my wrist and tugged as gently as she would if she were moving around her own young pups. It was displays like this that only more solidified my resolve that she was no monster who was blood hungry.

Water laughed in front of me as if a stream were placed only a few inches from my feet which we curled up beneath me Indian style. Curious I gently eased my hand in front of me letting only my finger tips brush across the surface of the ground. as i had assumed not twelve inches in front of me was the beginning of a slow moving river. Its pace as the water glided passed my fingers was leisurely and I could tell that it was in no rush to get to its destination wherever that might be. Sitting back on my butt I let a contented smile spread across my face and a sigh escaped my lips.

Here it was peaceful...here no threats lay on the horizon and for that I was incredibly thankful to Moonlight who as always seemed to know what I needed. I curled up beside he and allowed her to snuggle up to me instead of me suffocating her by me trying to get to close to her. Closing my eyes I let the soft rain drip down on me as I snuggled into Moonlight's side her fur giving me natural warmth.

"You know there was school today right?" asked a soft voice from behind me. Jerking up I looked behind though it did me no good. I knew to whom the voice belonged and though his name caused me to feel relaxed I fought the feeling. I was uneasy about the fact that he was in the forest at the exact same spot as me and that we were alone.

"Yes, you were aware of that yourself weren't you? Or are you the type of person that just decides to skip whenever and only grace the school with your presence when you feel as if they deserve it?" My voice was as harsh as my words and though I knew that I would probably be damned to a world of torture and pain when I died for speaking so rudely to an angel I couldn't help my self. Its what I did when I got scared.

"Yes, I knew there was school and no I'm not that kind of person and I hope I don't come off that way. I just wasn't really ready to face school yet it felt to much like purgatory." His voice was calm and if he was surprised by my more then impolite reception of him his voice didn't give him away. I understood what he meant to a degree though my thoughts varied slightly from his.

"Purgatory...you believe only school is that? Your life must be kind to you...because to me life is purgatory. Its a place that you are forced to face the sins you have already committed and if you decide to deal them differently than you once did then you're one more step closer to freedom but if you deal them the same way you that you did before you're much closer to the torture chamber of your own making. That will be designed to correspond with your sins only the victim of the treatment you bestowed will be bestowed upon you and while suffering whatever agony you let befall yourself, you are aware the whole time that this place is of your own making." My voice was dry and emotionless. I felt Edward walk over to me and sit down. I barely recognized that Moonlight showed no interest in him but I knew she was aware of his presence.

"That's a bleak outlook on life." He stated simply but I heard his surprise and heard the casualness he tried to mask it with. smiling I laughed softly.

"Its not so bleak when looked at it the way I look at it but perhaps to you it might seem...bleak." I was truly thoughtful as I pondered on that possibility that perhaps to others and mainly him the way I looked at things was hopeless.

"How do you look at things, Bella." Curiosity rang through out his voice and I could not detect any false hood in it.

"very differently from the way you do...a lot more abstractedly then you do only because I do not really view the world around me as you are able to. And for that my opinion on all things is based on my knowledge as everybody else's opinion is based on their own knowledge. But to put it into terms you may understand lets just say that I believe the world to be many shades of gray." I hoped that was the right phrase...I had read it from a book when I was younger. It had said **Not all of people are black and white, right and wrong, their are those who are so much of both that they are gray and they are many shades of grey.**

I heard Edward chuckle slightly turning my head towards him I cleared my throat sharply.

"What is so amusing...please tell me I truly do need to laugh." My sarcasm though unjustified and made me feel guilty also seemed to give me relief. There was some type of aura around Edward that told me that I could do anything and say almost anything and he would stay and not judge me for a second.

"I do not mean to laugh and I promise I'm not laughing at you per say more for the fact that you amaze me...something tells me you have a lot to say that should be heard if someone only took the time to hear you." His words were soft gentle whispers in my ear though he had not moved at all since the last time. I felt myself blush and for once I was at a loss for words but that did not take my attention it was Edward and that he had gotten rigid as soon as I had blushed and looked down. Odd...

So are you planning on going to school today?" He asked a slight strain in his voice.

"Yes..." My voice had gone back to unease and every instinct was cautioning me to careful, that I was playing with fire and in the end I was the wood which would burn and the lighter fluid which would let it build more intensity.

"Bella, are you afraid of me?" His voice was joking but seriousness laced it as well. I couldn't help but tell the truth something in his voice in his very presence something compelled me to.

"Yes I am because we've all heard that story before have we not. Young disabled girl sitting in woods completely alone when all of a sudden a boy comes out of seemingly no where all charm and allows girl to get false sense of security before moving in and taking advantage of her virtue before killing her. so yes I'm a little worried seeing as only to of those things have not yet happened.

"Well, Bella, you need not worry about your virtue or you life the latter of which is something I do not think Moonlight would allow to be taken and as for your virtue never would I let it be taken from you without your consent." Sincerity rolled off his words as spoke them.

I forced myself to stay calm and to not have my heart start beating so erratically for it was about to burst forth from my chest. Unsure of how to proceed and wondering why my heart seemed lighter and if that was a good thing or not I allowed him to take my hand and help me up. Moonlight who had been quiet through it all stood up and stretched before lapping up a quick drink of water. I heard her then immediately come over to me and brush her side up against my leg. Grabbing hold of her leash I turned to where Edward was standing.

"Is she always that dedicated to you without you ever having to tell her to work." His voice held wonder and for a moment I wondered what he saw when he looked at her and if he was able to truly understand her personality for all that it was worth.

"Yes she is. She's one of a kind." I told him proudly a wide smile across my face.

"Of that I'm sure she is." He meant what he said and with that he walked beside me, watching me and Moonlight. Taking in her actions towards me and everything around us. I didn't know if he was seeing what he'd thought he'd see or something completely different but what ever it was it had caused him to fall silent.

The leaves beneath our feet crackled as twigs snapped but I noticed that something about the noise was odd. There are distinct levels of noise for certain things: number of people, size of something/someone, amount of foliage on the ground, and what type of ground that is being walked on along with a million other variables. The noise that I was hearing wasn't loud enough to be from two people and a wolf. Edward was silent his footsteps made no noise to which my oversensitive ears could hear which led me to believe he was making no noise at all. And now that I listened he wasn't breathing I wasn't hearing nor feeling the steady sound and thump of a chest rising and falling.

I felt my forehead crease as I thought of the possibilities but none of them was in the realm of reality. I would have wondered if he was still there at all if his hand still hadn't been holding my free one. I continued listening hoping that I'd here him breathe or here his footsteps. Physically he was there holding my hand but something told me he could make himself be a ghost tot he point of barely existing to those around him if he so chose to.

I hadn't noticed getting into his car and relaxing until I was stepping out of it and into the parking lot of the school. Moonlight was soon by my side as was Edward...whom was still completely silent. Something wasn't right I could feel it in my soul and the instincts that guided me everyday and yet I figured it couldn't be to bad because Moonlight had no problem with him and she was very good at detecting untrustworthy people. I let my unease slide for a moment but I knew I would not be able to forget it, it wasn't in my nature to let something that caught my curiosity fade away from me.

With a quick goodbye we went off into other directions seeing as our classes were at different ends of the campus. Once in third period I quickly laid my note from the office on the teacher's desk and took my seat in the back of the room. Trying to ignore the stairs that I was receiving from everyone and the angry whispers that held not only my name in them but Moonlight's as well.

I hadn't been in my seat for thirty minutes before I heard my name being called through the intercom. Grimacing as everyone else laughed and whispered. Moonlight stood immediately as I stood and as she led me I thought of what this meeting could bring. Together I knew that me, that girl who could see no light and the wolf who gave light to that girl would face fate and the obstacles that it threw at us as we had done the last three years.


	7. Chapter 7:Ghostly Lullaby

Chapter Seven: Ghostly Lullaby

Its funny how the walk to somewhere can be more nerve wracking then the actual happening. The walk to the Principal's office was maddening but actually sitting there with my father, Lauren, and her mother, along with principal, and of course Moonlight. I was not calm because of the company I was in more because I knew Moonlight and me could survive whatever it was that was thrown at us...we had to there was no other option.

"Ms. Swan, I'm sure you know why we are here yesterday your guide _dog_ showed some frightening behavior towards a student or to call them by their name Ms. Lauren here." The principal's voice was a drone in my ears as I listened. I could feel the self righteousness pouring off Lauren and her mother in waves that nearly made me have to leave the room so I could throw up my miniscule breakfast.

"I apologize for Moonlight's behavior but perhaps you need to ask Ms. Lauren why Moonlight felt the need to act the way she did." My voice was calm, cool, collected everything I wasn't.

"How am I supposed to know why that beast acted the way she did. All I know is that

I was eating my lunch with my friends minding my own business when out of no where I see this monster lunging at me and knocking to the ground teeth barred and growling." I had to give to her she was a good actor and perhaps it wasn't all acting the experience had to have been somewhat scary but not enough so to forget how it started.

"Minding your own business that's rich seeing as it was your foot that tripped me and your voice saying _'You should really watch where you're going...wait you can't you're blind. Does your arm hurt blind girl._' Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't that your exact wording. Perhaps if your idea of minding your business contains antagonizing my guide to feel as if she needs to protect me you need to rethink this whole idea of blaming Moonlight. As it is her job to protect me from any type of threats.?" I didn't care that my voice was harsh or that I was perhaps not helping my case i already had a feeling that this wasn't going to be a fair meeting anyway. I had a hunch that the principal already had made his decision on who to believe but if he wanted to play dirty I could play dirty to.

"Whatever the reason for it starting Ms. Swan the fact remains that animal attacked Lauren. And that behavior is unacceptable." I smiled sweetly and I could feel their self righteousness turn to confusion.

"I believe the reason it started is very important seeing is that is what triggered Moonlight's reaction. Also she didn't really attack Lauren because she never bit her and before any of you say that she would have given the chance we all know that, that isn't the truth. If she had wanted to cause any damage she would have before Lauren had even touched the ground. Moonlight was merely warning her to stay away from me."

Silence reigned for a few moments before the principal began speaking once more.

"Ms. Swan I cannot stop you from having this guide _dog_ outside of school but when you are on this campus I can and I will not allow her to be here when she is an obvious threat. We will see about getting you and aid to help you around the school but the Wolf is not to be on school property again. Your father can take you home for the rest of the day you are excused for the rest of the day." Everyone stood up except for Moonlight who was sitting on her hind legs her posture rigid and me. Trying to fight off the shock I let myself get the final punch.

"No. I will go home today and tomorrow I will be back with Moonlight and I will go to my classes as always. If you have a problem with this I will simply become home schooled again. But from what I've heard you aren't looking to good. Over 100 students have left in the last two years and the state is threatening closure if you lose even one more student. I would hate to be that student who puts Fork High School out of commission." My voice was innocent but my smile told all in the room that I knew what I was doing.

"Ms. swan, are you threatening me?" The principles voice was flabbergasted and i suppressed a giggle.

"Me? Of course not I'm simply stating a fact. That fact being that if you don't allow Moonlight to guide me at school then i will leave this school and be home schooled by the state which in turn will cause your number of students to drop one student which will cause the state to close down Forks high." I told him sweetly in a voice that was meant for a five year old who was having a hard time comprehending something.

I heard everyone's stunned silence that the blind girl had that much brass and I bit my lip to stop from laughing. I heard the principal clear his throat a little.

"Very well consider this your first warning one more and the _dog_ is gone." I heard Lauren and her mother begin to protest but not waiting for them to say what they wanted to say I quickly told my father that I'd be home after while and that I was going for a walk and I'd see him later.

I didn't tell Moonlight where to take me I just let her lead me at a fast pace. I knew we were in the woods the moment we stepped into it overhang. The air was different cleaner, fresher, wiser. I felt the adrenaline begin to evaporate leaving me tired from the meeting I had just had. I didn't know where my confidence had come from only that it had guided me through the whole thing with a level head. And though I didn't want to have to be home schooled again I would be if need be I wasn't going to let Moonlight be taken away from me even if it was for only six hours a day.

We walked longer than we had earlier and I wondered if she had a destination in mind or if she was wandering around to clear her thoughts like I was. I believed she had thoughts that were more then food or mating related. She was to intelligent not to she understood to much to not think about it. I wondered if she lost sleep because of her thoughts and the worries that they brought.

After and hour and a half of walking I felt the air change again and I knew i was no longer under the canopy of trees but out in the open with long swaying grass brushing against me and swaying in the breeze creating a peaceful symphony. Sitting down i hugged up to moonlight my head on her shoulder as she stood erect staring at what I could only guess.

"We've got to be careful now...we're being watched by them and they will look for any reason to throw you out and me to now that I ran my mouth. I'm not that surprised that Charlie didn't say anything though I am surprised that he was there at all. What do you think about it?" I asked her. My only answer was a soft whine and a quick lick of the tongue across my hand. "I agree...it is a mess. And once again we are in the middle of it and once again you are misunderstood and I am underestimated."

The answer was a soft howl which sent shivers up my spine. It was filled with grief, frustration, sadness as ancient as any, and yet there was hope in it. A hope that i could understand it wasn't a hope for a better future or to be better understood but a hope that for now we were still together and nothing had yet changed. Though we both recognized and knew that in a world of ever growing technology on a planet that spins around and around the sun at speeds in thousands of thousands that there would be change for there was always change. And no longer was change an unheard of thing now the thing unheard of was something staying the same forever.

As I dozed I felt my body relax as Moonlight continued her watching and guarding. I heard the same song I had heard the night before start to play and before I could make my mind wake up and see who or what was making the song I heard Moonlight begin to softly howl with it. I began to drift to sleep against my better judgment and as I felt myself relax I realized that I was being lulled to sleep by a beautiful yet ghostly lullaby.

A/N I know it slightly short but I needed this part out of the way because staring next chapter we're going to skip ahead a week or so and then the Cullen's will have more of a part in the story. so tell me what you think about this chapter I'm anxious to know if you liked the whole meeting.


	8. Chapter 8:Meetings

Chapter Eight: Meetings

A week had passed and my reception over that week had been less then cold in fact I was sure if someone had taken the temperature of the air when I got around people it would've shown to have dropped into the negatives. But it was to be expected and it did not bother me in fact I liked it that way people willingly kept their distance from me and I was aloud to be by myself as I had always been. I noticed that the staff was keeping a close eye on me I knew they were because the hair on the back of my head was always up now and the feeling of being watched was becoming my constant companion.

The one person I wished, though against my better judgment, to talk to me was the one person who though civil kept their distance. Edward hadn't approached me since the day in the woods, he wasn't avoiding me but wasn't going out of his way to talk to me either. And though I told myself that it was better that way and that was what i wanted was to be left alone I still felt weird. As if I had lost something that I had cared for deeply but I told myself that, that couldn't be it because I couldn't lose something I didn't ever have and I didn't care for him at all if anything I was afraid of him. Afraid because he intrigued me...he was confusing and mysterious and something drew me in.

No, I told myself it was better if he kept his distance and I kept mine. Moonlight was starting to get restless and I didn't know why she just seemed as if she was waiting for something to happen that had yet to happen and that was supposed to already have happened. She wouldn't sleep as much as she should in fact she was just sleeping when the need became to much I was worried and I begged her to stop worrying about whatever it was but she just ignored me.

Luckily the day was a Friday and I was in the library while my last period went by. I had finished my biology and literature textbooks and had moved on to my other textbooks though I was having a hard time concentrating on anything.

"Interesting book?" Asked a smooth voice. Turning toward the voice slowly trying to stop my racing heart I tried to place the voice.

"Yes." I said slowly as I came to understand that I hadn't ever heard this guy talk before.

"I'm sorry I'm being rude my name is Jasper Hale my adoptive brother is Edward." A feeling of calm came over me and for a moment I was until I realized it was unnatural to be suddenly that calm. Once more felt unease creep up and the voice in the back of my mind was telling me to stay alert.

"Ok." I went back to my book but felt him sit down in the chair in front of me. Sighing I put my book down and raised an eyebrow. "Can i help you with something?" i wasn't in the mood to be messed with and something about this boy was making me uneasy.

"No, not really. I was just thinking you might want company seeing as we have both decided to skip last period and decided to hide in the library." His voice was soft and flowing like he had all the right words for all the right situations.

"I see, what class did you ditch?" My voice betrayed some of my curiosity and I couldn't help the small smirk that escaped onto my lips .

"Biology. We're working with blood today something about genetics and well the sight blood makes me sick. What class are you hiding from?" _Interesting he hated blood to_

"Gym, yes they put the blind girl in gym class. You can't stand the sight of blood interesting seeing as I can't stand the smell of it." My voice was bored and sarcastic but I felt Jasper laugh slightly.

"Humans can't smell blood." His tone was so certain I almost laughed.

"Hate to burst your bubble but I can it smells like salt and rust and it makes me sick. You don't believe me ask the three breakfasts, four lunches, and six dinner's that have been flushed down the toilet because of a stupid paper cut." Mt voice trailed off as I got lost into my own thoughts. A soft chuckle drew me back into reality. I felt a scowl cross my features...why did everyone insist on laughing at me and why did these people have such perfect laughs...its inhumane. "What is so funny because its like I told your brother I could use a good laugh."

"Its...its nothing. You're just interesting that's all." His voice was still amused anf I felt myself smile genuinely at him...it was hard not to around him.

"Really...I don't believe you." I told him sticking my nose up in the air. I felt him lean towards me slightly I could hear the smile on his face.

"And why is that?" he was truly curious.

"Because I said so." With a nod of my head I turned back to my book.

I heard him shake a little and then heard a noise like a whistle before he burst out in uncontrollable laughter. Fighting my own giggles i tried to keep my face composed but I failed miserably. Unable to contain it anymore I started laughing, laughing harder then i had in a long time in fact the last time I had laughed like I was now I was nine years old and it was the months before James met the girl he fell in love with he had a made a joke that made no sense.

"Why ae we laughing?" I asked as I grabbed my sides and doubled over unsure of where my mirth was coming from.

"I'm laughing at your face or more the face your face was making and you I have no idea as to why you're laughing." He was being honest that much I could tell and somehow that knowledge made me double over again into a fit of giggles. Somewhere I knew that it wasn't the situation that was making me laugh but years of pent up emotion spilling forth in laughter.

"I'm sorry to break up the party but Jasper its time to go mom and dad wanted us back home right after school so we can finish packing for our camping trip this weekend." A girl's voice broke through our mirth and immediately we both sobered up.

"Right. Sorry I forgot. Well Bella it was nice talking to you I'll see you later I suppose." Jasper quickly stood up and walked behind me to where I felt the girl standing behind me.

"Bella, I'm Alice I'm sorry I haven't introduced myself before now its just that I've been busy. But we should definitely get together some time and hang out!" This girl was way to happy to happy for her own good. She needed psychiatric help I was sure of it.

"Ok." I told her slightly nervous as to what I should do. I was tied with either backing away slowly or making a lot of noise either way she was supposed to leave me alone and be insanely happy elsewhere.

After a few more 'byes' and what not they left leaving me in stunned. I looked at Moonlight who I could tell was looking at me.

"What the hell just happened?" I wondered out loud. Moonlight decided to answer with a wag of the tail.

A while later I got up and headed out of the now deserted building...I found in the last week that it was safer that way. Moonlight had received many kicks and punches from the students as we all tried to get out of the school building. She had never growled nor whined or anything to defend herself but after a few yelling matches that involved me and only me yelling at the person who'd hit her I decided it was best if we waited until the majority had left.

i told moonlight to go straight home I was in no mood to go on a hike in fact I was in no mood to be around anyone or do anything besides sleep and think. Think about why I had laughed so easily with a guy I didn't know. It bothered me that I had felt so comfortable and relaxed that I let my guard down...it caused me to be vulnerable and I didn't like it. When you were that people could hurt you so much more easily. I didn't feel like getting hurt again I didn't know if I'd be able to recover like I did before.

Once I stepped onto the drive way of my house I noticed something was different. Or more like something new was here. As I walked up to the front door and opened it I was greeted with laughing talking coming from in the living room. curious i felt moonlight stiffen by my side and her fur began to rise. who ever it was she didn't like them being here and that in itself made me uneasy.

Whispering to Moonlight I got her walking again and she began guiding me to the living room. Though I could tell by the way she walked she was doing so reluctantly and that it was against her better judgment to lead me into that room. Once in the door way of the living room i cleared my throat. A gasp sounded throughout the room and i wondered if it was the sight of a full grown wolf suddenly in the room that made the noise escape from the guys mouth. I could tell it was a guy the gasp was to manly to be female.

"Ah Bella you're home. I want you to meet my friends Billy black and his son Jacob." Charlie's voice rang throughout my ears as did another sound. Inaudible to those who weren't paying extremely close attention or who didn't have oversensitive ears was a growl. A warning growl of such brutality that it made me shiver slightly...Moonlight was warning these people to stay back and the uneasy feeling in my stomach only intensified when I felt there eyes turn to Moonlight. Something told me they could hear her just as well as I could.


	9. Chapter 9:Fear

Chapter Nine: Fear

"Hi." My voice sounded small but at the sound of it Moonlight quit growling much to my relief but her posture was still rigid.

"Hey Bella, nice to meet you. Cool pet." I guessed him to be the son he sounded young to young to be a father. I felt indignation on Moonlight's behalf well up inside of me.

"Same to you. And yes she's a wolf and not my pet she's my guide." My voice was crisp and blatantly told that I did not wish to continue conversing.

"I didn't mean to offend you I like wolves there's something majestic and all knowing about them. Like they see the world not through just their eyes but through the eyes of every one of their ancestors. In a way I guess they do because their instincts are passed through their genes." I had to admit that he had earned a few points with me on that little speech but his words were just words and words uttered from any person including a stranger was worth no more than a penny in a dollar store. My guards went higher as I felt Moonlight shift beside me angling for a better position i knew to lunge at this Jacob if he made one wrong move.

Deciding it was best to diffuse the situation that everyone seemed oblivious to except for me I petted Moonlight on the head.

"I'm going to go put my stuff up and then take a nap Ok, Dad." I left no room for discussion and yet as I had learned in the last few days in the miniscule seconds that I talked with Charlie that he could somehow find room for a discussion when there was no room to be found.

"Bella, we have guests you can take a nap later but if you want to go up to your room and put your stuff away that's fine. You can take Jake here and show him your room just make sure you keep the door open." He added with a little chuckle. Keeping my face straight I couldn't help but ask myself..._What am I five._

"Whatever Dad." I said before letting Moonlight guide me to the stairs and as we passed Jacob she let out a threatening growl before almost stalking up the stairs.

I was befuddled at her actions never in the three years that I'd had her as my companion had she acted like this. With so much and anger especially at first sight. I worried a little that she was getting a little wild because she wasn't getting socialized like the people who worked at training seeing eyes dogs said she would need to be.

Once I reached the top of the stairs I let out a sigh and turned around with my hands on my hips and pissed that my _father...what ever that is_ decided to take it upon himself to invite some person I didn't know to come up into my room. Sure I could refuse and ignore them but Charlie would get mad and possibly take Moonlight away from me and hire me a helper and I would go back top being what I was. A shell of a person...shell of a human being the one race, species whatever you want to call it that I hated above all else. But even I didn't want to become worse than that...worse then a human being. And I had been, I had been so devoid of any emotion that I hadn't realized when I was feeling anything. Moonlight had changed that and she was still changing me and though I worried about it and sometimes tried to fight it I knew that she wouldn't turn me into anything that I despised.

"Are you coming or what?" I yelled down the staircase my annoyance evident. I heard the stairs creak and heavy footsteps thudding up the stairs.

"About time." I told him as I turned around and allowed Moonlight to guide me the last few feet to my door.

Moonlight stopped only long enough for me to open my door and push it open before she was walking again. I thought I knew what she was doing...or more wanted. She wanted me to slam the door in Jacob's face and though I was sorely tempted I refrained from doing so because though it would gratify me I couldn't help but think at what cost.

"So, how did you get a Wolf as your seeing eye dog?" Came Jacob's voice as I threw myself on my bed. I rolled my unseeing eyes in his direction.

"Its a long story perhaps you should ask her seeing as she came to me not me to her." My voice was dull, bored the opposite of what it had been.

The boy laughed nervously and I could almost here the boyish grin spread across his face. I sighed mentally and allowed myself a ranting time within my head. _Jesus what was this kid part dog he had to be and he had to be a very young one because he was acting like an annoying puppy. No not any type of puppy but the kind that didn't know how to even be a bit independent...they had to crap right by your foot, eat right in front of you, play on top of you, and always tried to get on your good side and only achieving to do the opposite._ He was that kind of puppy and though their was one of those in every litter I was lucky enough to be the one who got to deal with one. The blind girl who hated company was being badgered by a boy or puppy who was trying and failing to get on my good side.

He was digging a hole in a canyon and with each word, movement, and thought that passed through his head he dug just a little deeper. And I was the person who had to sit and watch him for those hours and hours on end and I wasn't laughing at his fruitless attempts more like thinking of ways to kill him and shove into his own hole.

So maybe I was a little grouchy and not cutting the kid enough slack but he to playful, he had to much of a daredevil spirit...I could smell it in his very essence. I was no longer a child though by age I wasn't an adult...I had grown up long before the deadline and I saw the world in a different light.

More differently if I was just blind...now the world was split into two worlds. One world was the world of youth, and laughter, and carelessness. The second one that was running parallel tot he first...it consisted of babies, careers, marriage, a house, bills, money...it was the world of adults as the first was the world of children. I was not wanted in either...My mind was to old to be ever again the mindset of a child and yet to everyone else beside children who sensed something about me I was still a child. So the adults of the adult world pushed me away. So I stood in a void between the two worlds waiting for the children to catch up to me and sometimes fearing they never would.

It was a lonely place at times when my heart got in the way and begged the companionship of people but at other times it was my haven. That's why as I sat on my bed I couldn't help but feel slightly disgusted that this child had barged into my haven without even asking.

An uncomfortable two hours on his part and an irritable two hours passed on mine before Billy called up the stairs and said that they were leaving. Jacob had practically ran out of the room with Moonlight growling at his heels. There had been only one other incident in those two hours that I found myself highly amused at and slightly worried about.

Jacob had tried to make conversation with me more times then a few and during one of those times he decided to sit on my bed. It was almost the last thing he every did. Moonlight wasn't happy about him being there in the first place she seemed to understand that he had breeched some wall that I had put up and that I didn't like it but dealt with it because of fear. And yet she had kept herself in check going against her instinct to protect me from anymore uncomfortable situation with this boy, she fought her own instinctual dislike for him though I didn't know why she disliked and knew it was for different reasons then I did but I respected them just the same as she respected mine. But she couldn't hold it in when he casually flopped himself down on my bed without any prelude. I felt and heard Moonlight leap beside me into the air it swished as she sailed through it. I heard the thump of her paws landing on skin and Jacob's surprised gasp.

He must have been stronger then I gave him credit for because though I heard Moonlight's jaws snapping together she never managed to bite him and though it made me admire him for about a second until I realized that he was strong enough to hold off a full grown up wolf. It must have been my disability that made my mindset into more of a prey then predator or it could have been all the men my mom had brought home some of whom had tried to do things that I still had nightmares about. Whatever it was my instincts went into overdrive and made me fear...not that Jacob had showed that type of maliciousness but one could never know not really.

Finally there was a large crash and then one last growl before Moonlight was back on my bed and was licking my face and rubbing into me with her side...in away that was her way or the wolf way of giving comfort. Jacob had found it to be safer to sit on the floor by the door that led to the hallway. It was a testament to how loud Charlie and Billy had the game that they hadn't heard the ruckus and come up to check.

Once he was gone I shut my door before laying on my bed with a tired sigh. My mind was tired and my body exhausted and though much had happened in the last few hours the thing that my mind went back to was Jasper and the fact that I had laughed in his presence. I had truly laughed and only three living beings had ever seen me laugh Annie, James, and Moonlight. The fact that I had let a pure stranger make me laugh scared me and I wondered what had been different what power he must have that he hadn't even fought with my defenses. Once again as I had so many times today I felt fear. In my life I had felt many kinds of fear the fear loss, the fear of death, the fear life, the fear of abandonment, the fear of rape, the fear of not being good enough, the fear of going back to what I once was, and now I feared the fact that I had opened up to someone even if it was just laughing. I had showed weakness and in showing weakness I had shown vulnerability and that could very well lead to my destruction if given to the wrong person.

I went to sleep in fear and for once not even Moonlight could comfort me and i found myself longing for the lullaby I had not heard since that day in the meadow. Wondering if perhaps it had stopped in fear also. In the fear of being caught. If it was so I couldn't blame it I knew to well what power fear had.


	10. Chapter 10:Hell's Angel

Chapter Ten: Hell's Angel

Edward's pov

After almost one hundred years the minds of teenagers never changed. The only difference was that the technology now was much more advanced and the _children_ had more to want ...more to fill up their head. Though most of the stuff they wanted would be old to them before the new ever wore off. They were all the same no matter in what city, state, or time period...they were all the same...except for her.

I prided myself on my self control around humans, my maturity compared to the other _children_ who were for all intents and purposes the same age as myself. No adult, teenager, or child has ever made me stop and give them a second glance until now. No one knew what she looked like and rumor was that the last time Charlie had seen her was the day she was born.

What an amazing day that must have been and yet I found or rather heard that the hype in the children's minds wasn't just the fact that she was the new girl but that she was blind. Some minds were pitying others were filled with superior thoughts that screamed of maliciousness. I, myself felt indifference...I had gone through medical school twice and met many blind people...they were nothing to be pitied or to be looked down upon. They were just blind but that didn't mean they couldn't live their lives.

I knew she had arrived long before I had seen her in Biology. Her face was in the mind of every child and every adult but that didn't surprise me. Small school, small town meant any new thing got scrutinized in every possible way and angle ten times more so then normal. But along with her picture in their minds there was another picture and this one brought them fear. Everyone had known that she would have a guide dog they just didn't realize that, that was kind of the wrong title for her guide...everybody from the principal to the newest freshman was expecting a golden retriever or lab to be her guide _dog_ not a full grown wolf.

I had to admit it wasn't the best feeling to know that some human was allowing my worst nemesis to guide her around the school, when at any second said nemisis could over power and go with its instincts to hunt me or my family down. Of course wolves were only cousins to werewolves but wolves held the same instinct that their _cousins_ did. To kill what was inhuman and what so monstrous as what me and my family are. But something in her demeanor, told me to trust her.

Then I met Bella in that small Biology class room that was humid with hot moisture...it magnified the smell of the humans blood and though at times it had tested myself control I had felt urge to give into my hideous instincts. Then she walked in and every bit of self control was tested and most of them that I had prided myself on failed. In those few minutes thousand of ways passed through my mind on how to lure her out of that classroom and her being blind gave me an even greater advantage and allowed her to be even more defenseless against me.

I knew that my eyes had gone black that my rational part of mind was almost completely silenced and that Carlisle's voice soft and compassionate was almost completely gone...drowned out by the monster screaming to be set lose. But within my thirsty state...I heard it...the sound that stopped me dead...and made me freeze in fear. The sound of my nemesis growling almost inaudible to human ears. I hadn't noticed the wolf but I looked at her now and her eyes told me she knew exactly what I was and that she was willing to do whatever was needed to keep her master safe. Her growl let me know that I should think carefully but quickly on my choices and pick the better one. But though those things scared me and caused me to second think it was nothing from the second thing her eyes showed me. They allowed me to see that there was something about this Bella that she didn't want destroyed and in that minute I knew that I could probably attack any other student in class and she would fight me only a second before going back to guarding Bella. She just didn't want me to destroy this human...this devil's angel.

I chose and whispered in here ear a warning to stay from me before I quickly exited making some lame excuse before almost sprinting to the door. I fled embarrassed and self hating at my almost failure. I told Carlisle who was truly the only father I remembered and as I told him I couldn't meet his eyes...couldn't see the disappointment in them...but he had understood and told me to comeback when I could. Then I ran.. and didn't look back though the thoughts of my family crossed my mind for a while before disappearing only to be replaced by their memory. Haunting me, taunting me.

Two weeks I was gone...two weeks of self hatred and beating my self up with guilt. But after two weeks I was done with it...I was going back to my mom who I had hurt, to a father whom I was sure I had disappointed, I was going back to my two sister's one of whom knew some of what lie ahead the other to angry at me to care, I was going to my two brothers one of whom tried to understand the other who truly did. I was going back Bella be damned.

I had made the resolution to stay away from Bella and only endure her company during that Biology class but even I couldn't ignore what Lauren said and did. Her thoughts full of nothing but hatred and jealousy because though Bella was blind she was amazingly beautiful for a human in more ways then one. Her looks were nothing to berate but the air to which she held herself gave her a classic beauty that belonged to women of an earlier century.

I had almost joined the wolf in holding Lauren down but I knew if I joined that I wouldn't have the same amount of control that she was showing. I grudgingly had to admire her for that. But I made no move to stop it until I heard it. The agonized cry of Bella begging the wolf to whom she called Moonlight to come back to her and not do anything that would surely get her a death sentence.

My dead heart ached and before I knew it I was telling my sister to not be so superstitious and then talking softly to Moonlight who to my surprise listened to me. when Moonlight Returned to Bella I heard my family begin ushering everyone out of the cafeteria...I felt gratitude fill me at their actions...but my eyes could not leave the sight before me. Bella sobbing into Moonlight's neck and Moonlight looking as if she were about to cry herself...then their was my sister who was throwing her fear to the wind by sitting in such proximity to Moonlight.

My already breaking heart shattered as I heard her repeating words..."Please don't leave me." Her voice so broken in despair it made me wondered just what this girl had been through. And before I realized what I was doing I was promising to make sure Moonlight stayed with Bella.

After I had put her to bed I waited till she fell asleep before sneaking through her window and sitting in the rocking chair that I pulled right to the side of her bed. I didn't care that it was the middle of the day and her father could always return home and I was risking her waking up and hearing me. But I couldn't leave even when her father came home his thoughts never turned to his daughter nor did he check on her at anytime during the night. Even when she woke up screaming from a nightmare including Moonlight I guessed. she was tired I could see it in her cloudy eyes so I started to hum. And it seemed to do its job...the song was of my own creation for the very girl who had just fallen back into sleeps clutches. I was rewarded with a small smile and that was enough for me that I no longer cared if I ever received anything else saying how wonderful my music was ever again.

Perhaps I had become a bit obsessed but I couldn't help but follow her into the woods to make sure she was safe. She had curled up next to Moonlight beside a small stream and I couldn't help but notice how much like a wolf she acted like right then. Like a wolf in a pack she took comfort from the other members or member in this case. I couldn't stop myself from talking to her I wanted to understand her thoughts to which I'm completely blocked. I wanted to understand why the Wolf beside her was so important to her on such a deep level...but most of all I just wanted to hear her. I hoped she didn't think me a stalker and when I asked if she was afraid of me and she answered with a yes I felt my heart sink...but her explanation as to why was what left me speechless for a few seconds.

I wondered why her mind immediately jumped to rape and murder...but then I remembered the world we lived in and I was glad that perhaps she did it would keep her safer. But I still felt the need to allay her fears and so I did at least i hoped I did.

But it wasn't that, that made me stop and stare at her in awe it was her speech on Purgatory...it made me realize that after almost hundred years this girl had more figured out then i did and she'd only been around for sixteen some odd years.

Isabella was a mystery and her speech to the principal when he'd cornered her had let me see a different side of her but it also allowed me to see that though she knew how to stick up for herself she was still frightened and dealt with fear everyday. She stopped me breathless when I saw her go into my meadow...my haven and yet I didn't feel envy or jealousy or anger ...just sadness that she couldn't see the beauty of it...and yet I got the distinct impression she saw it better then anybody.

When I began to hum what I had come to know as Bella's lullaby...I couldn't help but feel at the wrongness of the fact hat she was blind. Because she was an angel and I was slowly learning details about her that made me wonder why everyone wouldn't want to get to know her. But as much as she was an angel she was all Satan's angel unleashed from the bowls of hell to challenge me in not only myself control but in all knowledge of people and things. But the scariest part was, was that I was beginning...no I was already loving it.

A/N Ok this is my first Edward Pov and though there won't be many of these i hope you enjoyed this. whether you did or didn't let me know in a review.


	11. Chapter 11:Secrets

Chapter Eleven: Secrets

I couldn't keep up with Edward...first he tells me to stay away from him, then he acts kind and compassionate, and then he practically avoids me for week, only to start speaking to me again. It was like bipolar disorder hat he didn't take medication for. When I arrived at school with only a few minutes to spare I was met by his soft voice so seductive and sweet. It made my head fuzzy in away I had never experienced before which made me even crabbier...my mood still had not improved since I had let my guard down with Jasper and the pup invading my space.

Edward merely walked me to my first class wheeling on a cart my Braille Machine which he had also placed my books. Moonlight seemed to enjoy his company and her such demeanor change as that from when Jacob had been with me to him was frightening. His voice was gentle has he said goodbye and the fragrance that came off his skin as his hand pushed a rogue piece of hair back behind my ear. He had done it hesitantly and yet quickly the air had stopped a few times signaling his hand had quit moving but when it did it was with shocking speed. He left me breathless and just more then a little bit dazed and I only came out of stupor when Moonlight found it necessary to nibble on my hand.

The first part of the day passed by swiftly and before I knew it, it was lunch time and I was in library. Today I didn't read I just sat in the same chair as I always did with Moonlight's head on my lap staring into the blackness of my own oblivion. The librarian was in her office with the door closed and I wondered if she was hiding the same way as I was. I was hungry unbelievably so...I hadn't had an actual meal in days and only snacks to keep me tied over. It wasn't that I was trying to stop eating it was just that I never really thought about it until I was overwhelmingly hungry which was at times like this when I really wished I had ate more. But no matter how hungry I was I wasn't going into that cafeteria...not after what happened the last time.

So I pushed away the hunger and closed my eyes though I couldn't really tell the difference and listened to all the sounds around me. Moonlight's light and steady breathing, the creaks that come with any building, my own breathing, the sound of friction as Moonlights adjusts into a laying down position at my feet, faintly I heard the sound of computer keys being pressed down rapidly from inside he librarian's office. No sound was out of place and I felt myself begin to relax more and more.

"Do you have an aversion to food or just people?" A melodic voice asked in a whisper beside my ear. I jumped up my heart racing uncontrollably as I gasped for breath. Holding a hand over my heart I scowled as I recognized the voice.

"Edward, do like sneaking up ion me or is it just coincidence that you always turn up when I most relaxed only to emerge out of thin air...with no sound to let someone know of your approach? And as to answer your question I have an aversion to crappy food and yes to people to." By the end of my little speech I could almost hear his surprise and amusement.

"I promise scaring you was and is not my intention...and you must have let your mind wander because everyone makes noise." His voice was stiff at the end like he was trying to convey some important message but what that message was eluded me and the fact that it sounded as if he was trying to convey one only made my curiosity peak out its head from under a cloak of masked indifference.

"But you don't...I have better ears then most and you make no sound...your clothes don't rustle as you walk and I'm sure you haven't been waling around school stark naked so that would suggest you're wearing clothes...also your footsteps make no noise but you do walk...and there are times when you don't breathe." I didn't know why I was pressing the subject but I was and I heard him gasp and stop breathing I laughed at the irony. My curiosity had gotten the better of me and I had learned long ago that my curiosity could have an insatiable hunger that would never be quenched with half truths and dressed up lies.

"You really have a vivid imagination, Bella." His voice was strained as he tried to back peddle but I knew that he knew it was fruitless...he was an insect caught in my invisible web and could only be released by my leave.

"Do I? Hmm I don't think I do...I believe I'm a rather logical person but even a logical person must admit that there are some things that cannot be explained...not truly. And Edward I believe you're one of those things which one I'm not sure but you aren't exactly normal now are you?" I felt my way to the bookshelf that was right beside him. I was treading on thin ice that was getting thinner with every second that passed.

"Like I said vivid imagination Bella." He was trying to close the subject and for now I would let him but I would get the final word.

"Perhaps. But tell me that I'm wrong and I'll leave it be but if I'm not then...you can trust me to keep the secret."

"Bella, I...I..." His voice trailed off and in it I got my answer he knew it and I knew it and for now that was enough.

"We've all got secrets Edward...and we all want to keep them that way and for now you can keep yours. But I do have one question. What exactly are you doing here?" My tone was light and joking and I felt Edward give a sigh of relief before chuckling slightly.

"I wanted to see if I take you to lunch?" His voice was serious and yet i detected nervousness in them.

"Oh, really? Where exactly would we go...we're not allowed to leave school grounds and the cafeteria is off limits. So unless one of you secrets is being able to conjure food out of thin air I don't see where we would have lunch at." I told him laughing slightly.

"Well, what if I told you that we could have lunch and never leave school grounds while also never going into the cafeteria. Would you say yes to having lunch with me?" I heard his hopeful voice and his nervousness increased behind his amusement. I decided to play with him for a minute.

"Perhaps." He seemed to hear the playfulness that lightly laced my words...I could hear him grin and I let a grin of my own spread across my face.

Ok. Perhaps you could come take a walk with me and perhaps we could eat before lunch period is over." His voice light and unassuming and yet sarcasm rolled off his words in waves. Putting on a fake scowl I turned away from the bookshelves to face him.

"Perhaps we could do that." I heard his body shake in silent laughter. Calling Moonlight to me I quickly motioned with my head to Edward that I was ready to leave. I didn't know why I was going to lunch with him and leaving the sanctuary of the library. I just couldn't help but feel safe with him and I berated myself for the feeling...it was dangerous to feel as I was. I was asking for hurt now and though I knew my scarred heart couldn't take anymore beatings I was allowing myself to be set up for one.

I mean the boy had to be bipolar one day he was angry the next all sweet...and his pattern had already repeated once and so statistics showed that he would get all crabby again and I would get hurt and then go insane while wallowing in a pool of self pity.

"You Ok?" Edward's voice was concerned as he walked me through the empty hallways. My thoughts must have shown on my face and I hurried to try and put an innocent expression on.

"Yeah." My voice was an octave higher then usual and in Edward's silence I heard his uncertainty in it. Shaking my head slightly I tried to tried my mind of such pessimistic thoughts. Focusing on the sound of my footsteps as they echoed off the wall was oddly soothing but the sound of Edward's footsteps were to forceful to my oversensitive ears. To a person with normal hearing the sound would have sounded like regular footsteps but to me I could tell he was trying to show me that he did make noise. Trying to dissuade me from thinking he was something more then human...but I hated to tell him some could just hear his voice and know he wasn't totally human. No human had a voice like his so his effort was comical.

I heard a door being opened and immediately smelled and heard the sounds and scents of the outdoors. It wasn't raining which could have been an apocalyptic event if thought about. We walked a little farther past the doors whether they were the front ones or not I couldn't tell.

"Alright, we're here." Came Edward's soft voice and I felt my heart flutter only to mentally reprimanded myself for letting the strange emotion take over for a even a moment.

I felt Edward place one of his impossibly cold hands on the small of my back and guide me into a sitting position. Once more Moonlight surprised me by allowing him to do so but I felt her sit down and heard the air shift and the intake of a deep breath as if she had yawned. I hoped my surprised disbelief didn't show on my face but I wasn't sure because all I heard in my head was a stunned buzz.

"Will you sit her for a moment while I go get our food?" I was a little curious as to how he would be able to get food and make it back before lunch was over and because of my curiosity I nodded that yes I would. After all I knew that curiosity didn't kill the cat it made the kittens...James had told me that on one of the many good days before her or his thoughts leaving. (**I remember reading this quote on the internet one day and I couldn't help but laugh and feel as if it should be incorporated into the story somehow.)**

With a light heart that I couldn't really understand I felt around where I sat and noticed for the first time that the bench on which I sat was wooden. Also that the bench wasn't just a bench it was a picnic table the fact that I hadn't realized this before now made me feel a sense of unease and foreboding as if I would become more unaware of my surroundings if I relied on someone. My fear was illogical seeing as after the number of helper and Moonlight I noticed my surroundings very vigilantly. Then again even Moonlight had a problem not being eclipsed by Edward's presence so I knew all the other helpers even Annie and James didn't stand a chance. Thought it wasn't as if I forgot about Moonlight in his presence it was more that new and unfamiliar and scary feelings emerged when he was around. I hated them because they made me weak made me susceptible to getting hurt and abandoned and disappointed; but at the same time I felt myself getting addicted in the same emotions that caused me to be so conflicted.

It was a struggle that caused me to ponder until Edward came back. Five minutes later after he left he was setting what sounded like a bag back onto the table. The smell was that of curly fries, a personal favorite, and a double cheeseburger with tomatoes, pickles, ketchup, and onions...another personal favorite. But I couldn't smell anything else food related and wondered if that was because he got the same thing.

"That was quick." My voice casual though I'm sure he heard the sarcastic undertone. I heard him take a quick intake of breath and i nearly laughed at his shock. Did he honestly think I wouldn't notice?

Though I wouldn't be truly surprised it was rather amazing and disheartening to know just how many people tried to pull one over on someone who's blind. They tried to sneak and give back the incorrect amount of money, lie when you ask directions, make faces at you as you talk to them. I know these things because I've trained myself to know when others lie though there are a few times when I cannot tell. I learned the lesson if people lying about directions when someone, _out of kindness,_ led me to the boys locker room instead of the trigonometry classroom. Laughter and whispers had followed me for a long time after that...and I once again hung my head in shame. After that Moonlight never missed a day of work she had that day because she had been acting sick and I figured she needed rest and that I could always get one of the aids to help me for a day. No aid would help me they were all busy.

"Umm...Well, see...I..." He trailed off not knowing what to say and seeming utterly depressed that I had caught him once again. Sighing and deciding to put him out of his misery for a little while longer seeing as I could not bare to know that this god was uncomfortable because of me.

"Edward, secrets remember...we all have them." My voice was soothing even to my own ears and I felt him relax immediately. "Now what did you bring me?" I asked as I grabbed the bag I heard Edward chuckle and I fought the urge to stick out my tongue at him like a five year old.

I didn't comment on the fact that he didn't eat but filed it away to be remembered if it turned out to be important. The rest of the day went by fast and Biology was actually fun. After we had completed our lab we had about 45 minutes left to just talk. In those minutes we talked mainly of books which though I had read very few of because there were very few Braille novels out and about without costing the buyer a fortune. I had, had the classics read to me such as Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Romeo and Juliet ect by James. Surprisingly he had read the same type of books and we basically had the same views about each book/play though we both found out that I was a more of a cynic and pessimist then he was.

I went home that day with Moonlight by my side and a small smile on my face. I knew that one day I'd ask Edward Cullen about those secrets of his but I knew the day I did that I'd have to ready to divulge mine...and mine included things from my entire life.


	12. Chapter 12:Moonlight

Chapter Twelve: Moonlight

Time. I've never understood it though I've tried. sure I know hours, days, weeks, and years and how they all blend together. But what truly is time and what makes it so important? We cannot see it but we do see its affects. Wrinkles, and skin blemishes, puberty, menopause. All after effects, all consequences, of a force we cannot see but dub more powerful then all other living beings. We remember events by days, years, moments and by a million others. But what makes that one moment so special? What makes that year so legendary? What makes that day so memorable...is it a death, a new life, or simple peace that comes from a good day. And are these things truly what time is made up of...a billion days, years, and moments memories from trillions of people and animals alike? It could be argued that whether these events happened or not time would still go on...there would still be a night as there would be a day and forever would and will the cycle repeat. Is time then just a cycle like the water, carbon, and rock cycle are. Is time's cycle meant never to end even when all other things start from the beginning over and over again. Whatever it was it seemed as if it liked playing tricks with people's minds. At times when I wanted time to slow down it sped up and when I wanted it to speed up it slowed down.

Time had always interested me and the thought of a lapse in it or another dimension where the bounds of time are blown away have always fascinated me like a baby amazed by flashing lights. Perhaps that is why I always wanted to believe in the myths and lore's of vampires for they had nothing else to hold over me. They could not threaten my life by sucking my blood because my life held no specific glitter that would make me beg for my life to be spared. I could not see their supposed beauty so that could not lure me in either...only their immortality and even that was not very tempting. Only the fact that immortality messes with time is what constantly catches my attention. Not the living forever...why would anyone want to? Then again how many vampires got the choice?

_Vampires._ It was amazing what that single word could do to my mind and heart. I held a suspicion of someone in my mind that made me believe that the myths and lore's that I dreamed were true were actually very much a reality. And yet logic argued with my illogical mind... that there were no such things as vampires is what it told me but my gut told me otherwise. And I had learned to listen to my gut...for it rarely ever failed me.

Though I was stumped on how to exactly confront him about my suspicions or even if I should. It wouldn't be a very good thing if I suddenly went up to him and said, "hey Edward...I have a theory that you're a vampire and I was just wondering if it was true?" Saying something like that could be disastrous in more ways then one and all of which I wasn't to willing to meet unless completely necessary. Moonlight was being unhelpful in the matter which didn't surprise me...she seemed to have taken a liking to him. Not that I could blame her...he was someone that somebody would find hard not to like. Then again that could be his inhuman abilities and if so he was more dangerous then any other man on earth. Because he was ten times more fascinating then that of any other person let alone man that I'd ever encountered. Sometimes I hated being the child that always stared(in a manner of speaking) transfixed at a shiny object.

We stood on the point of a knife and we both seemed to know that which way we would fall would decide upon our actions and how many secrets we are willing to tell. Until then our conversations though never dull were rather awkward. But at least Moonlight was oblivious...from the moment she saw him she'd run up to him (while dragging me along with her) and rub on the side of his leg...her way of saying hello. Which her actions would lead to a bunch of failed conversations starters and a few long painful silences before one of us bolted away from the other.

It was an odd time at school but one thing had become clear to me while in the midst of all the weird theories and conversations was that my father was a nicer version of my mother. Charlie was married to the police station...it had been his wife and baby for a decade and a little over a half years and so I couldn't blame him. The same went for the fact that for the first time he is not only technically a father but has his teenage daughter living in the same house as him. And that's got mess with any man's mind. But he was never around...not really and when he was he was to involved in the sports games on the TV. He was unwittingly allowing me to sink back into the routine I had, had in Phoenix.

He knew nothing of my life...he thought Renee had been the perfect mother. He always had taken her word on everything. She would tell him how well I was doing in school but she wouldn't truly know if I was or not. She'd tell him what fun we'd had recently together but it was all lies we never did anything fun with each other, in fact we barely did anything with one another. We were strangers parading around as a mother and child to the world but within our home we both knew. We were not mother and child we were two people forced to coexist because society deemed it right.

It was worse living here with Charlie he didn't seem to understand what he was doing and because of his ignorance he continued. Because of his continued actions of seeming indifference and then seeming to care a great deal left me more confused then I had ever been. I no longer knew my place or what role I was supposed to play.

I had learned long ago life was all a charade being played by many different people all at the same time. But the object of this world charade was not for people to guess the truth but to remain ignorant from it. Those who did not know there part were the weakest ones in the game and the one everyone else pounced on. Because for as bad as everyone wants to keep their own charade going we want to destroy our opponents charades. There were no teams in this game only alliances that never remained for long.

The wind blew in my face pulling my thoughts away from my part that I had yet to play in this game. I was in the woods once more...school had let out an hour earlier and the forest like a beacon of light that I could not see it beckoned me with a quiet song. Moonlight lead me loyally and a part of me wondered if she did not hear it to, if it did not call her as loudly as it called me. A primordial feeling that I knew had been lost as more generations came and left this world and it had only been rediscovered by a few. A few who were trying to tell others to listen. But those few who tried, tried in vain...people were not ready to listen and perhaps they never would be because to them that would be going backwards not forwards. And that was an unspoken rule mankind could never go backwards...I wasn't sure why we as a species had made this rule but i guessed that it was because if they back to those times so long ago they would get closer to the beginning of all existence and in doing so perhaps meeting their creator before they ever died. They were not ready for that judgment do they ran forwards with a deluded thought that if they ran hard enough and far enough their creator wouldn't catch them, that their sins would go unpunished.

Mankind's one life threatening flaw is it's greed. Its a motive for murders, kidnaps, cheating, stealing, lying. Greed was truly the cause for all other sins...sadly it was only mankind that seemed inflicted with this incurable disease. I knew I was not completely freed of it...I would be a fool to think I was and yet I tried to be as un-greedy as possible. but I had flaws just as anyone does and I knew I would be the biggest type of fool if I could not recognize it.

I hadn't walked in this part of forest before I knew because the smells, sounds, and general feeling were different from the woods that I had walked in. These woods were not at peace though all prey was on high alert because a predator was hunting them. I could feel it in my very bones. Moonlight could feel it and that's why she walked so hesitantly. The air was thick and every leaf of every plant and every breath of every living thing was being held...waiting for chaos.

The hair on the back of my neck stood up and every fiber in me told me to run. To run and hide somewhere where no one would find me...the other half me told me to keep walking. Every pitter patter of rain falling onto leaves and then falling to the earthy ground made me jump. Every smell was amplified to the point that everyone of them seemed to be seared into my nasal passages. My throat felt raw thought there was no reason for it to. The air though cooler then it had been this afternoon suddenly seemed like an inferno.

A movement to the left of me. What was it? A squirrel? Rabbit? Chipmunk? I didn't know but the rustling happened again and it was closer. Moonlight stopped and faced it, whatever it was. Her growl was a growl that I had never heard before. Ferocious and angry. An anger I somehow knew ran back to the ancient times of her kind. A time when there was more wild then tame, more animals then not, more wolves then men.

I shivered but stopped almost immediately as another growl joined Moonlight's. But is was not a growl of a wolf or any animal of creation but of something so wounded, so distorted that one had to wonder who would have the heart to make such a thing. Almost bear like in nature. If its bark in a manner of speaking was any estimation of its size then I really didn't want to have to fight whatever it was. Because it was huge if its growl was anything to go buy.

Then it shifted and so Moonlight. She positioned herself in front me pushing me back with her hind end causing me to stumble. Tripping I fell hard onto my back a gasp forced itself out. Dizziness crashed onto my senses like twenty foot waves slamming down onto a small row boat in the middle of the ocean.

Then like every thing had been waiting for chaos broke out and hell came forth. growling turned to snarling and then the air crackled with electricity. A resounding crack broke throughout the air as if two boulders had smashed together. Snapping of teeth upon air and on flesh reverberated throughout my senses causing me to whimper and srivel into myself.

"Moonlight." It was all I could get out I was to paralyzed by fear and pain that seemed to lick at my senses. So I repeated it over and over again. Never noticing the commotion stop...never realizing what that must mean. I was to far gone back to days when things had been happier except for that one. That one day that would forever change my perspective on the world.

I wasn't aware of being picked up only that Moonlight's name kept falling from my mouth like water from a leaky faucet. I did notice when I was laid down on something soft but my Darkness seemed to be fading into a general blackness and I feared that blackness and what evils it might bring. But exhaustion was working on my tired mind and I felt my control slipping and me falling into the blackness that I feared.

"What happened?" On the edges of sleep I heard a voice like that of a worried angel.

"Emmett. I'm not sure how much longer the wolf's going to be able to hold on for." Shock registered in my mind but I didn't know how Edward's brother had anything to do with it. And Moonlight my precious angel, my savior in a world darkness...was barely holding on. Holding on to what? Her life. I hoped she fought to keep it because something told me that was exactly what she was fighting to keep. But I couldn't be sure...and the darkness had reached me and I was falling into the abyss. With one last word escaping my lips "Moonlight."


	13. Chapter 13:Whispers

Chapter Thirteen: Whispers

Edward's POV

I had stopped Emmett from attacking Bella in the forest with little time to spare but I hadn't been able to get there quick enough for Moonlight. He'd bitten her and had torn a large piece of flesh from her side. she now laid in our living room breathing shallowly as her heart stuttered every once in a while. Bella was asleep in my room with Moonlight's name escaping her lips every few seconds.

The air was heavy and silent and once more I counted myself lucky that I didn't have Jasper's power. I didn't want to know what everyone was feeling though I could guess form the sound of their thoughts. Emmett was feeling guilty as would be expected and Rosalie was torn between wanting to comfort her husband and wanting to curse him for not paying enough attention to her. Alice was crying tearlessly as she stared at Moonlight who now so weak and bloody seemed so small and harmless. Jasper was trying to calm everyone but was close to giving up. Esme was worried over Bella and was pacing the stair way. Carlisle was busy working over Moonlight though he had never taken a class in veterinary field. I worried that if Moonlight died and it was likely she would what that would mean for Bella. Something told me that she was connected to wolf far more then even she knew.

Perhaps it was me being paranoid but something told me from the deepest reaches of my heart that Bella's fate rested with Moonlight. I didn't believe she would become suicidal but there were always chances. The more I thought of it however the more I came to feel as if her death wouldn't be by her own hand but by someone or something that had tied Bella and Moonlight together long before they had ever known of each other. I knew that it was illogical but so was the idea of Vampires being real and yet me and family were a coven of them.

I felt more monster like then I had ever had before. More then when I killed for a sense of justice, when I lied to get my fix of blood, when I cheated to get the upper hand. This time was so much worse because an angel's life had been tainted. Her wings clipped and that's what I was beginning to see Moonlight as, her wings that gave her the ability and courage to fly. horror filled me more and more with each passing second and I hoped that the monster within me wouldn't be the cause of Bella never catching flight.

I had watched her long enough to know that she depended on Moonlight far more then just her need for her to be guided by her. It was like Moonlight was a beacon of hope for her helping her travel in a world meant for 'seeing' people. Bella had once said that Moonlight was one of a kind and the more that I thought of her behavior, the looks she'd give me, led me to believe that she really was one of a kind.

Perhaps I wasn't the one who bit her but I was the one who failed to act quick enough. Sure as soon as Alice had seen what would happen I had left but I had run a second to slow. a second that could very easily cost not only a wolf her life but that wolf's master's life as well.

I noticed the room begin to thin out as people went to their respective rooms within the house and began the tiring wait that would ensue. But I couldn't leave something wouldn't allow it. I looked over at Carlisle who was the only person left in the living room besides me. He was staring as Moonlight with a somber expression on his face. Moonlight whimpered and I felt my heart clench tightly at the sight before me. Blood soaked her fur and the carpet. Her eyes were half open staring unseeingly at nothing. Her leg would jerk every once in a while as if her muscles were contracting.

She looked so small when so close to death and I wondered how I had ever feared her. It wasn't like she wasn't something to be feared...she had nearly beheaded Emmett it was just that her nature seemed so sweet. She only turned vicious when Bella was in danger and it was that, that I admired her for. She was so willing to die to save the one she was to guide. I wondered how many people would have the strength to do that, I figured very few.

I shivered suddenly. The air had gone cold, inhumanly so, and I felt curiosity building up within me. Looking at Carlisle I saw that he to had felt the change in air temperature. Then a whisper like leaves rustling lightly in a spring breeze. It flowed through me almost visibly towards Carlisle who just sat there waiting. The whispering grew louder and more distinct and the more distinct it became the more I realized it was a woman's voice.

Soft wispy yet strong and defiant as if it was gentle and yet strong. It was melodic and yet harsh. It was a mixture of everything and it captivated me like the sea captivates a sailor.

Then rising from the wound on Moonlight's side was a woman or at least she looked somewhat like a woman. Her hair was long and yet it seemed short, her eyes were green and yet they seemed blue, she was transparent and yet she looked as solid as stone. For the first time in over three decades my jaw hung open. The woman was beautiful but terrifying. Her aura suggested that she was of a peaceful nature but could be deadly with in less then a second. Her looks seemed to change constantly and yet they seemed not to change at all. She was a chameleon in every sense.

I stared at her and she stared back at me with unwavering eyes. With a smile on her face she looked down at Moonlight whom also looked transparent. A frown soon adorned her features as she assessed the damage. I felt my heart plummet my gut told me that if she could not save Moonlight no one could.

She seemed to float down to her knees but at the same time seemed to bend down. She laid one hand over the bite wound and the other hand over the gash and then she closed her eyes. Her lips moved so fast that not even my superhuman ears could hear it. But as she whispered the rustling in my ears grew louder and the almost visible thing that was flowing through me seemed to pulsate with more and more intensity. Until my dead heart seemed to beat again. Then it was over the pulsing stopped, a bright light shone before disappearing along with the woman, all traces of blood gone.

I couldn't move my legs wouldn't let me and I briefly wondered if I was crazy but something told me that I wasn't. Finally my legs moved and I was at Moonlight's side staring down at her and her thick shiny coat. I saw no scratch let alone gash or bite mark. Touching where the bite had been I felt an electric shock run through me it wasn't unpleasant but it wasn't comfortable either. A gasp filled the air so loud and piercing I thought it might shatter the windows and after a couple of seconds of confusion I looked up and realized that the gasp had come from Bella's room. As if some unseen force had released her from its hold.

A door opening above me and a racing heart beat caught my attention. Footsteps stumbling as they walked closer to the stairway. I knew who's feet they were an I worried about how they would get down that many steps. I went to get up but felt a hand on my shoulder holding me down. Looking up and behind me I saw Carlisle staring at me his expression unreadable.

"Moonlight." The voice was that of a girl who had long been beaten and of a woman who had long been trying to stand. Teary and breakable but resilient it was Bella's voice. The voice of an angel who's wings still couldn't fly.

Turning back towards the stairs I saw her standing on the bottom step looking . Her hair looked like a haystack and her complexion was pale enough to rival my own. The circles under her eyes showed she was not well and once more I felt the urge to go to her and once more I felt Carlisle's hand on my shoulder. Apart of me wondered if he knew what he was doing or if something was telling him to do what he was doing.

"Moonlight." The name once more fell from her lips as she began to walk towards Moonlight and me.

Her feet no longer stumbled but stepped with deliberation and carefulness. With awed fascination I watched unable to fully comprehend what I was seeing. Her blindness no longer seemed to hinder her. She walked without the support of any wall as if she could see the world around her. Her eyes were open and underneath the film that had long ago coated her eyes was the faintest tint of brown, part of my mind couldn't help but fantasize about how captivating those eyes would have been. But her eyes were not unseeing as they usually were they were focused on a certain point on the floor, the exact point where Moonlight laid.

I watched her as she came over on the opposite side of Moonlight that I was on, folding up her knees she looked up and down Moonlight as if she were actually looking up and down her guide's body. It was then that some instinct that had long ago died out within me reared up it sleepy head and whispered a thought my logical mind didn't want me to admit. That Bella was not seeing her surroundings but that someone or something was leading her to Moonlight. Something told me that it was the same woman, if that was what she was, that had just disappeared.

Never in my many years had I ever witnessed such a thing and yet my mind did not dwell on it, instead it was focused purely on the woman in front of me. Bella seemed not to notice Carlisle or me only Moonlight and with a pang I saw that tears were falling from her useless eyes. The sight of her so sad made my cold un-beating heart break in more pieces then I had ever thought possible and an irrational feeling of me wanting to protect her from the heartache that she was clearly in.

I watched as she raised her hands and pushed them forward slowly to hover over my own which still laid where Moonlight's injuries had been. I tried to pull my hands back but found that something held them in place and I had a feeling it was the same thing that was causing Carlisle to not let me move. Her hands, angelic in their own way, began to descend until they reached mine. The warmth that radiated from her hands floored me and only for a split second did I think about her sweet blood before my mind went back to the fact that an angel was touching me, the devil. Before the wrongness of it began to battle with the feeling of rightness the pulsating came back.

Like a heartbeat itself breathing in life it ran through me, through Moonlight, and through Bella. I knew it ran through her because her gasp had filled the room once more right after the pulsating started. Like something was changing inside me it beat. As if in its melodic rhythm it held a message a message meant for me and Bella but I knew if I had no idea what it was trying to express neither would she and truthfully I wasn't sure if I wanted her to be messing around with whatever was happening.

Then with a final almost painful pulse the heart beat like feeling stopped slowly and dissipated. I looked at Bella wondering what she would think when she realized or questioned her surroundings but she never did. She just laid down beside Moonlight and gave a contented sigh. I felt my eyebrows shoot up and I turned my head to look up at Carlisle to see what he made of it all but found him to be shaking his head as if trying to clear it.

"Carlisle?" My voice sounded odd to my ears almost harsh even. I stopped myself from cringing but couldn't help but inwardly wince.

"Edward?" He asked back to me and he sounded like a man who was coming out of a trance. He turned to stare down at me confusion mirroring my own as I met his gaze.

"What the hell just happed?" Carlisle cursing was odd enough that at some other time I might have teased him for it but now given the circumstances it seemed normal, almost.

"I have no idea." Was my only reply. I shook my head as we both turned to look at the two sleeping occupants on the floor. Bella slept peacefully with a small beautiful smile adorning her lips. Moonlight breathed normally as if nothing had ever happed and she were merely taking a nap.

Confusion overcame me and for the first time in a long time I wished that I had the power to sleep. To be able to let my mind rest and let it work out what had just happened while I was blissfully unaware. But sleep was not a luxury given to those dammed to live in eternal darkness and the events that had just occurred needed dealing with and I would be unfortunately aware of it as my mind tried to sort everything out. Though in the middle of my thoughts I recognized that Jasper was needed or more like his knowledge of older books and legends were needed. I had a feeling we were dealing with something that would forever change the rest of my and my family's existence.

A/N Ok I know that you are probably all confused and you have every right to be but it will all become clear within time. You just have to have patience. Okay. Please review and tell me what you thought of it.


	14. Chapter 14:Spilling Secrets

_Chapter 14: Spilling Secrets_

Screaming. Its never pleasant not when you're the one screaming or the one listening to it. I knew it but at the moment its what I felt like doing. I had woken up in a strange bed, in a strange, room, in a strange place. I'd never been to wherever I was before I knew because the air was different not as innocent a it was in my familiar places nor did have the heaviness of all the weight that clung to everything at my house and at school. But the air did hold a secret that much I could tell...a secret it would willingly divulge if given the chance to be heard by someone who would truly care. I wanted to know its secret wanted to release it from it burden but how do you say that to the wind?

The next thing I noticed that was different was that Moonlight was not at my side and never in the three years that I had had her had I woken up without her there at my side. It was odd feeling that I wanted no part of...it made me feel naked and awkward like I couldn't be sure of anything. As if I was the most vulnerable prey that had ever lived. I begged my throat to speak her name but it wouldn't comply with my wishes though that could be because they were half hearted attempts because for as much as I wanted to feel her comforting warmth I was to afraid to hear nothing but silence answer my call.

The forest incident had not left me and I felt heart quell in fear at the possibilities as to why she wouldn't come or even why she was not by my side. Terror filled me accompanied by anguish the two emotions that were common in my life but that I had not had to face alone recently. Three years in fact.

The what if possibilities that ran through my head were only as bad as they were because I couldn't help but know that whatever her fate had been it was because of me. I had ignored her whimpers and insistent pleads to turn back and go home. I had perhaps caused my only friend, the only living, or non living thing for that matter, to care about me, death. If not death at least a significant amount of pain and I wondered how she could ever forgive me of that or if I should even be forgiven.

I felt a sob well up in my throat but I forced myself to choke it down. I wouldn't allow myself to cry it only showed weakness and weakness shown to someone is bad enough but letting be seen by no one was unacceptable. It was odd logic I knew but it was the only logic that made sense to me right then.

With an unsteadiness belonging to a child learning to takes is first steps I stood and tried to find the door. Luckily for me it was almost directly in front of the end of the bed. With only about a ten foot gap in between. I had to give it to whoever's room this was it was set up nicely and clean. I could tell that by how many times I'd fallen the floor was littered with nothing and I was falling over air. When I had finally reached the doorway I opened the door hesitantly waiting for whatever had attacked us to come rushing me again but I knew that irrational to believe it would. That thing, beast some would call it, I simply called it an animal we were all that...both figuratively and scientifically.

The air was closer together and I could tell immediately that the space had shrunk immensely compared to the room I was stepping out of. It was a hallway or landing depending on whether where I was standing was second story or higher. I hoped that I was still on ground level...gravity didn't like me and the floor tended to be unforgiving. I had bigger issues to deal with then being afraid of falling but the fear of pain of any kind I tended to shy away from even if that meant embracing the physical pain of a fall to get away from the pain of not having Moonlight by my side.

My luck wasn't on my side there was stairs and if I wanted answers I'd have to get down them. Hoping and yet knowing I looked stupid I sat on my but and slowly slid down each one. The jarring sensation gave me a slight headache and I as soon as I began to wonder when the steps would stop they did. Getting up unsteadily my hand searched for a wall so I could have more support then just thin air, reaching one I gripped to it as a drowning person clutches a flotation device.

"Hello!" I called out my voice trembling slightly as I listened hard and heard nothing except the seemingly impossible loudness of my racing heart. Nothing met me but silence I couldn't even hear the chirp of the birds or the rustling of leaves in the wind.

"Hello!" I yelled louder fear truly starting to set in. I hated the silence and the resounding thuds that continued to come from my chest loudly.

"Moonlight? Moonlight...Moonlight!" My voice was turning hysteric by time I screamed her name the last time. Quite close by perhaps in the next room I heard glass shatter with a piercing crash and before i could turn and try and make an escape back up the steps I felt something strong and furry plow into me. Knocking me down to my but I sat there trying to orientate myself.

Suddenly a sound more heavenly and angelic then that of the trumpets of heaven was a soft low whine that could belong to only one creature. Moonlight. With a gasp of surprise I felt a smile spread across my face as I spread my arms out and heard her feet pad softly and yet quickly over to me until her head rested on my shoulder. As i wrapped my arms around her body I let my hands run over her belly, sides, legs and head to make sure she was ok. There was nothing that would indicate injury and yet that made even less sense because I knew the attack was not a dream. Then again I also knew that I didn't know where I was and the glass that Moonlight had shattered was more then likely very expensive.

I let myself bury my head into he neck while tears began seeping through my closed eye lids. Relief swept through my body as I truly began to realize that my only friend was alright. My shoulders began shaking as I let sobs wrack my body. I felt no shame in my tears and as I felt Moonlight pull back enough so that her nose was touching mine. The wet cold of it sent shivers down my spine and caused Goosebumps to pop out on my arms and back.

"I'm glad to see that you're up and moving around though i am slightly curious as to how you got down all them steps." An amused but calm voice spoke in front of me. Letting go of Moonlight quickly as if I had been burned I looked at the sopot where the voice had come from. It was Carlisle Edward's father which meant something that I found deeply disturbing.

"I slid." Was my short reply as i once more stroked moonlight fur. The action bringing me calm and clarity.

"Ah." Was Carlisle's even shorter response and I bit my lip to hide the smile that wanted to claim my lips. I had questions. Questions that needed answers and that wouldn't leave until they gotten them.

Perhaps my curiosity was once more getting the better of me and perhaps I had hti my head during the attack but suddenly i felt odd. As if suddenly the man in front of me was prey and the secrets that he kept was the only thing I ate as the predator. It was a peculiar feeling and it caused my heart to race and blood to pump and for a second I hoped Edward was no where around if my suspicions of him being a vampire were correct.

You have a beautiful home." I told him simply and I spoke the truth. Though I could see nothing of it I could tell my the amount of steps and the way that sound echoed off the ceiling and walls that it was a huge home. Also the architecture was that of and earlier centaury...I could tell by the wall that I had been holding onto and how the stairs had been positioned...plus some instinct told me that it fit with them. I didn't really understand the feeling but I knew it wasn't leading me astray as it had never done so before.

"Thank you." I heard his uncertainty and hesitancy as if wondering how to respond to a complement given to him about how beautiful his house was by a blind girl. I couldn't help let a ghost smile adorn my features...I couldn't help but give Carlisle a small complex.

"You're welcome. But if you don't mind me asking how did I get to be here at your house." Amazing how a simple sentence can cause such tension. Small whooshing sounds as if the air was being stirred very fast by many different people filled my sensitive ears and I felt my head tilt instinctively towards the noise.

"Umm...Edward and Emmett were out hiking in the woods...they came upon you being attacked by a bear...It luckily had gotten to you and Moonlight was doing a good job of holding her own." Lies. I knew as Carlisle talked he was lying i knew it within my very bones. I had recognized four people that had joined Carlisle and me but had yet to make any noise to announce themselves, Jasper, Alice, Edward, and Emmett.

"A bear huh?" I let my voice go weak for effect while letting my head fall down so I would have been looking at my feet if I could see them.

"Yeah...You Ok? Need to sit down?" Careful i warned myself approach this subject with caution and know when to strike_._

"I think we all need to sit down. Dr. Cullen, Edward, Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and the two other people whom I have no idea who you are." I tried not to sound rude but a bit of rudeness was in order. They had to know that I wanted answers that I knew it wasn't a bear that had attacked.

With a sinking feeling and a knot in my gut my mind told me that if Edward was a vampire then he wouldn't live in a house hold full of humans he'd live with other vampires that were just like him. I came to realize that this family that I was sitting with...whom if all things that were said from people at school were true they were close to, if not, perfect. If my thinking was accurate I was in a house filled with vampires one of which had already tried to kill me and in knowing that I felt fear.

Self-Preservation was a feeling that runs strong through my veins and yet here I was telling vampires to sit...here I was planning on bringing their lives crashing down around them and in the end I knew doing so could very well cost me my life. But it did not stop me and I couldn't help my heart that quickened as I felt and heard Edward sit down next to me. Moonlight merely scooted over to him and whined as if she was extremely happy to see him. Hiding my shock that I wasn't to shocked at her behavior I couldn't help but notice that tension had already filled and thickened the air.

_Great, I haven't even gotten to the good part yet and the tension can already be cut with a knife._ My thoughts were sarcastic and my blood raced through my veins and the more I tried to still it the harder my heart seemed to pump it.

"What's wrong Bella?" Came Edward's soft caring voice that was tinged half with pure curiosity the other half filled with doubt. I almost laughed he was uncertain and yet he still had to be polite an ask what was wrong with me.

"Nothing's wrong Edward. Its just that its secret telling time." Or more like admitting to what I was pretty sure I already knew. I felt Edward gasp and the rest in the room hold their breath that I knew were unneeded.

"Wha..." He was to much in shock to even form a single word. My heart if possible beat faster and my self preservation instinct yelled louder to stop and run away. But I couldn't.

_**'Always finish what you start because if you don't the assumptions of what you might have said can be far worse then the reactions to what you were actually going to say.'**_ James had once told me that back when i first met him and would never finish my sentences. It had annoyed him to no end and thinking back I couldn't help the small sad smile that graced my features.

"Edward, didn't we just have this disscussion a few days ago? We all have secrets in our lives and we should be able to keep those secrets secret, at least until those secrets threaten the life of another. So I have a question what do you make of vampires?" If ever there was an award for shock effect when it comes to their words I do believe I should have gotten it. Half of me laughed at their stunned silence the other half though whimpered in a corner knowing that all chance of escape was lost.

"Um..wh--why do you a--ask?" I felt myself smile internally as I opened my mouth to speak again. My newly found motto was if you're digging yourself a hole you might as well dig it deeper to make it comfortable.

"Strike One. See the right answer would have been 'oh their an urban legend.' or something of that nature. I already know that Edward over here is one though I do not believe that he is exactly like that of the mythological vampires. Which would also suggest that you all aren't like the vampires of lore. Which in turn brings me to my first question, what kind of vampires are you?" It wasn't subtle in the least and yet I knew no other way to bring it up.

"Alright say Edward is a vampire what makes you think that the rest of us are?" Jasper said this and in it I felt another victory.

"Strike two. The right answer would be 'are you on crack? Edward isn't a vampire. To answer your question it would not make sense for a vampire who feeds off blood to live in a house full of humans that seemed always to be unharmed. Which leads me to believe that the rest of you would also have to be vampires." I tried to keep the smugness out of my voice but I couldn't help it when it showed through slightly. It wasn't everyday when I was able to call someone out on their secrets they were usually doing that to me and this one small victory, though i knew it could bring about my demise, left me feeling satisfied.

Silence. It was deafening and for a moment I couldn't help but wonder if this was what a deaf person heard. No birds chirping, no leaves rustling, no breathing in the room except my own and even that seemed muted to the point that all I could hear was the vibrations in my chest. The silence was so powerful, so poignant that it could very well make ears bleed if dwelled on...for though it was silent the silence itself was loud to an over powering extent.

"We're vegetarians. Our inside joke if you will...we feed of animals instead of humans. Though the smell of human blood is always more tempting then animal blood and for that we must always be on our guard, to never lose control of our instincts. See we want to live among the humans not off them. There is only one other coven like ours all the others take the lives of humans to sustain themselves." Carlisle's description of what they were and how they generally lived their life made me feel an over powering respect for all of them. This family was handed a curse and instead of following the rules like all the others they created their own, turning a damnation into a redemption.

I lost myself in my thoughts of awe and respect...forgetting they were still waiting for my reaction.

"Bella? Bella. Bella, I'll take you home if that's what you want?" Edward's voice was concerned and worried smiling a little I pulled myself out of my musings.

"Why would I want to go home. Edward?" I asked politely but truly curious as to why he thought I wanted to flee.

"Because you know what we are...monsters, freaks of nature." His voice so calm and yet he spoke as if to a five year old. Hr believed his words and yet his thinking was faulty.

"Why do you think you are those things?" I asked truly curious.

"Because we kill on a regular basis and all the time we are fighting the battle of resisting human blood...in which sometimes that battle is to much and we fall off killing more innocents then should ever die out of cold blood." He was trying to scare me. To show me that they were dangerous but that was something I already knew. The power they had radiated off of them in waves and it scared me. But more because I had, had only the vaguest of suspicions that Edward and his family were vampires...but today within moments they had confirmed those suspicions. For once what my gut told me scared me but right now my fear was unimportant.

"Edward, We all kill. Most think that the number one law of survival is 'kill or be killed. Perhaps to an extent that is true. Though I believe there is another more overlooked law that should, not come before it, but be noted as its equal. Its a law that kind of goes like this 'for something to live something else must die.' sure your circumstances are different unique compared to what others do but we still need something's life to keep living ours. You're no different then any other species in that regard...you're more powerful then any other but you still have all species, even humans, fatal flaw. Their need for food. If that makes monster or freak of nature then hell we're all freaks, we're all monsters." Silence met my speech. a silence I couldn't really decipher but silences last only for a short while.

"Jesus, Edward, you said she was bright you never said she was philosopher and a very pretty one at that." Laughed a male's voice. It was a voice I did not recognize but I couldn't help but blush at their words. They were wrong...I was a philosopher and though I couldn't be sure i didn't think I was pretty.

"Yes, well...perhaps what ever name is could answer a few questions for me?" My voice was sweet and I heard the air once more turn serious.

"I'll try." Said the suddenly meek voice of the male to whom I still didn't know. I bit my tongue so as not to release the comment that wanted to spew forth about his sudden change of demeanor.

"Good. So which one of you was the one who attacked me?" Death. Somehow i wondered if it was this quiet. The silence that came from my question stunned even me the one who was used to silence.

"Th--that would...be me..." _Ahh that would explain the sudden change of demeanor...poor guy probably thinks I'm going to yell at him._

"And would you be Emmett?"

"Yes." Trepidation aligned his voice and I drew a deep breath so as not to laugh.

Holding out my right hand in the direction his voice came I smiled.

"Nice to meet you Emmett. I'm Bella Swan." I felt a hand swallow mine and start shaking it. Hard.

"Alright Emmett let go." Came Edward's stern voice and thankfully Emmett let go.

"Sorry." He said sheepishly and I couldn't help but laugh. Surprising everyone in the room except for Moonlight, whom seemed extreamly pleased.

I went to sleep that night not thinking about the fact that i had laughed more that day then any other time at least in a long while. I didn't wonder why the Cullens allowed me to let my guard down so quickly but I did. But i didn't think of that all I thought of was that I had, had fun. And that thought was enough to lull me to sleep with a smile on my face with a hand resting on Moonlight's head.

A/N Is there any excuse? Yes there is one but I've found they rarely mean much...but know that I haven't had any internet connection to the computer that hold all my chapters and no way to get them to you. But now I do and hopefully fates willing I won't go this long in between chapters again.

Also I know you have a lot of questions I know i would but please be patient all questions will be answered and the very few that aren't well I'll answer then in an author's note at the end of the story.

Please tell me what you think of this chapter because it has been the hardest to write


	15. Chapter 15:Native Legends

A/N Sorry there was some confusion here's the answers a few questions from the last chapter. No Bella doesn't remember the pulse, woman ect. at least not yet. She didn't know they were Vampires she had a hunch and in her life of living pretty much on her own she's learned to follow her hunches...or her instinct. You'll find out where Moonlight was later on. The breaking glass was a window shattering as Moonlight jumped through it...as to why she was not hurt will be explained later. Also sorry for not clearing it up at the end...she was at her house when she fell asleep. Hope this answers any questions...most of the others you all will just have to have patience all answers will come.

Chapter 15: Native Legends

Edward's POV.

Life was simple...at least that's what I had thought. Existing for almost a century tended to give me a false sense of security when it came to the happenings of the world. Every reaction to every scenario was the same, death, birth, lies. All of them were the same and though reactions varied I've seen all of them so I knew what to expect from people. Except when it came to her...Isabella Marie Swan.

She was an enigma that I couldn't even begin to understand. Jasper was still looking into the woman that had appeared but so far, as I knew, was having no luck. But it wasn't the fact that a spirit, or whatever it had been, seemed to appear when Moonlight was in danger, or the fact that when said woman appeared Bella could somehow see but had no memory of it. It was the fact that she had shook my Brother's hand that bothered me. The same brother who attacked her, who had tried and would have fed off her blood until there was none left. She shook his hand knowing that and she didn't even seem to care.

She had no sense of self preservation at all. What sane girl, or even human being shakes the hand of a vampire? Hell what sane person corners a family of vampires until they spill their secrets? But it was more then that she didn't even seem to care...or understand that there were worse things out there in the woods that she had taken to walking in almost everyday. She was a mystery if ever I had seen any but something told me she liked it that way...that it made her feel safe.

It was Thursday but my family and me were staying home away from the eyes of the sun that had decided to raise its head on the usually sunless town. Emmett was sitting in the living room playing a video game, his thoughts were amusing though rather consistent. They contained malicious thoughts of throwing the game system out of the house at full vampire strength...only to rethink it because he thought if he did that he'd be bored. Jasper was in Carlisle's library trying to find anything that might refer to what Carlisle and me had seen. Alice was in her room thinking about all the clothes she wanted to get and who she would drag along to hold her bags, as of now it was between Jasper and me. Rosalie was sitting in her room mad that Emmett was to occupied by the video games. Esme was in the kitchen cooking food that would never be eaten and Carlisle was simply watching her...in a trance at the very essence of the woman he loved. I was sitting in my room on my couch thoughts centering around a human girl.

People often say not to judge a book by its cover...and for most people that is a true enough statement but for me, a guy who can read minds, my first impressions were very rarely ever wrong. I'd dealt with to curious humans, murder, sickness, loss...my first impressions of all those involved were always accurate. Alice said I had an unfair advantage perhaps she's right. Perhaps I leaned to heavily on my gift for to long...I never thought the day would come when someone would show up and I would not be able to hear them. But the day had arrived and as much as I wasn't prepared for that day I wasn't in the least prepared for the girl behind the silent mind

Everything always came back to her it seemed...Bella Swan a puzzle wrapped up in a beautiful fragile blind girl. Her silent mind intrigued me and I ached to know what her mind thought. Her independence was attractive to say the least but the haunted look I sometimes saw in her misted eyes made me wonder what had made her so independent. She had said we all have secrets and I knew of the ones I still carried, I had no doubt she carried her own, but I had to wonder did she have any idea the secret her loving wolf was keeping from her. I doubted it and yet she must know that something was different about her 'pet.' She was to observant not to.

No one had really discussed what had happened the day before everyone was still to much in shock. Newborn vampires don't accept the truth as easily as she did, and newborns certainly didn't try to comfort the vampires that changed them or any vampires really. She was odd that was for sure and before my family hadn't understood my fascination with her but now they were beginning to be just as fascinated, though for different reasons. What feelings my fascination, amusement with her brought up was like nothing I'd ever experienced before, my want to protect her was beginning to trump the monster that wanted her blood. My family on the other hand found her amusing in a way that a scientist finds a lab rat fascinating. That's not to say they would treat her as one...but they would study and mull over every action she made because she captivated them. She was like water to a person who's lost out in the dessert, she was like the wind in an airless place. She's refreshing...she reminds everyone of us of something we lost.

_Edward, you need to see this. In fact get the rest of the family...I found something._ Bolting up from my sitting position on my couch I whispered to my family to go to the library. Faster then the rest of my family I was the first to make it to the library but only seconds later was I joined by the rest.

"What is it, Edward?" Asked Carlisle patiently. I just nodded my head at Jasper who was standing in the corner of the spacious room, a book still opened in his hands.

"I think I found something on the woman that you and Edward saw," Jasper explained to Carlisle. Knowing this already I glared at my brother impatiently who merely sent a wave of calm my way. "You have all heard of the four elements right? Fire, Earth, Water, Wind. There's a legend in Native American beliefs that the four elements are more then elements their actually spirits in essence. Shape shifters with one main purpose." Jasper stopped letting the information sink in.

"What's that one main purpose?" I asked unable to contain my self. Jasper finally turned to look at me directly his voice ominous.

"That's the thing...their's many stories that are different depending on location and tribe but there is one constant theme. In the legends the four elements had one purpose...to protect." A silence hung over us and a sinking sensation gripped my stomach.

"To...pro--protect what?" My voice broke despite my best attempts to stop it from doing so.

"That's the thing that always changes in the legends...it the one constant variable that's never the same and there's no trend to them, none at all. Not even if looked at in the most abstract way." Defeat dripped from his voice and disappointment lined his face and it was then that I looked around the library for the first time since I had come in.

It was a mess... the usually neat bookshelves were almost all bare and all the books were sitting precariously in stacks everywhere around the room. Carlisle would not be happy and it was only his curiosity that kept him from saying something to Jasper.

Sighing I walked out of the room and bolted out of the house not heeding the calls of my family. I needed space to think, contemplate, on what I had just learned I couldn't do that at home where everyone else's thoughts were invading my own to the point that I didn't even know what my own thoughts were. So I ran to the only place where I had ever even remotely had peace of mind...my meadow.

As I laid down in the sun I felt my nerves begin to get worse as thought after thought invaded my mind. Were the legends even true? If they were the legends said that the four elements had a single purpose to protect. If that's true and Moonlight or the spirit in her was one of the elements where were the other three? But as much as those questions bothered me two stood out above all the rest. Why did these elements or spirits think Bella needed protection? What evil was out there waiting for her and was it perhaps already around, biding its time waiting to strike?

A/N I know you're probably confused but all will be explained in due time. Please tell me what you think.


	16. Chapter 16:The Telling Calls

Chapter 16: The Telling Calls

There are times when secrecy is necessary whether for oneself or for others but that did not stop me from hating secrecy half the time. It had been a week since the Cullens confirmed what they were...a week of exploration. Edward met me everyday outside of my house to give me a ride to school, Charlie had once again forgotten me and finally I told him I had somebody else taking me. Edward asked twenty questions but I had managed to avoid them, for how long I didn't know but I knew it couldn't be much longer. Though as each day passed I began having questions of my own.

They thought they were being sneaky but they weren't. I heard the whispers they tried to conceal by talking at a fast speed and they concealed enough for me not to know the general gist of what everything was about. But I did catch one word being repeated over and over again: Bella. It was hard trying to investigate what was going on and what it had to do with me while also being investigated by the people you were trying to investigate.

A cold nudge to the side of my bare thigh brought me from my musings. I swatted Moonlight's head away as I finished getting dressed...to tired to vocally reprimand her. I was exhausted and I had no idea as to why perhaps it was the fact that it was close to the end of the week or that Moonlight had decided to pace my room continuously allowing whimpers and howls to emerge from her throat. She was searching for something, calling for it and the urgency in it kept me awake with a knot in the pit of my stomach. It was a good thing Charlie had been called out to the station for the night.

When my alarm clocked blared it song I noticed that Moonlight was laying right beside me on the bed but her head was up and little cries were emanating from her throat. Something was bothering my angel and I wanted to know what it was more then i wanted to know hat the Cullens were keeping from me. But I wasn't sure how to find out and not for the first time did I feel helpless.

Once I had my hair brushed I asked Moonlight to get her vest and once that was on her I held on to the straps like it was a my only lifeline. She led me faithfully down the stairs at a slow pace, so I wouldn't trip. When I was down she led me to the kitchen without me asking her to take me there. She knew our daily routine so well that commands had become almost secondary. A knock at the door let me know it was time to go and face the inevitable of school.

Skipping breakfast I pulled Moonlight in the direction I knew to be the way tot he main door. She seemed to be hesitant to leave the kitchen and my gut told me that she wasn't happy that I kept skipping meals. She was my personal watch dog that not only kept me safe from the outside world but from myself as well. It wasn't like I meant to skip meals it was just that I was never really hungry but when I was I did eat. She just worried to much.

Opening the door knowing who it would be I smiled slightly at the person at the door.

"Good morning, Bella." Came the silky smooth voice Of Edward Cullen.

"Good morning to you to." I replied as I reached for Moonlight's leash finding it quickly I clipped it on and turned to face Edward.

As We made our way to his car it I couldn't help but think how i wished I could see. I was starting to wish that a lot lately so I could see him, se what he looked like when he was smiling. I wanted to be able to see the rest of his family to see if their outer appearances matched their personality. But wishing for the impossible was stupid and though I knew it would only lead to a sore heart I couldn't help but keep wishing.

Once I had put Moonlight in the back I quickly made myself situated and had buckled myself in, I felt the car begin to move and I allowed my eyes to drift close and my head to fall back on the head rest.

"Bella, I was wondering if you could tell me more about Moonlight?" Edward's voice was hesitant almost uncomfortable. Intrigued but instinctually on guard I couldn't help my suspicious tone.

"Why?" It wasn't that I didn't trust him, I trusted him more then I had trusted a person in many years but Moonlight was the one sensitive topic I didn't like to discuss to deeply. Edward knew all the right questions and all the right times as to ask them, it was rather unnerving. In my years I learned that when people asked to deeply into something it was usually so they could cause it harm or you harm and though I knew Edward wouldn't, you couldn't erase a lesson I had, had instilled into my brain since a young age.

"Because we've talked about me on everything and you so far have been able to dodge a lot of questions and Moonlight seems to be very important to you and I just wanted to know why, what it was about her that caused you to have such a special place in your heart for her." His explanation was solid and I had no good reason to not answer the question. In fact I wanted to answer it to tell him why she meant so much to me.

"Its hard to explain why Moonlight means so much to me because for you to grasp it fully you would have to understand what my childhood was like before she came into my life, into my world." I stopped and found myself unable to continue knowing that we would be arriving at school within moments...this story was something that needed more then a few rushed moments.

I'm not sure when it happened but somewhere between his explanation as to why he wanted to know about Moonlight and my explanation as to why it would be hard to tell him I made up my mind I would tell him everything. At least I would if he was willing to listen but I feared that even if he was willing that by the end of my tale I would hear only silence. A silence that would speak of his rejection his decision, and a smart one it would be, to stay way from the girl that had to many problems. I feared abandonment...it was a fear I had long ago accepted but with Edward it was different, the feelings he created in me were different, and I feared his rejection, his abandonment more so then anyone else's, except for Moonlight. Who would always save me from sinking to far in when I got hurt.

"Bella, would you mind if we skipped school today? I really want to hear what it is you want to say but something tells me its not something that can be rushed." He spoke my thoughts and I wondered for a second if he had lied about not being able to read my mind, but immediately dismissed the thought. As far as I could tell Edward had been completely honest with me about everything I had asked, which was a lot, and had even added some.

"No, I wouldn't mind." My voice was suddenly small and I grew nervous with fear, fear of losing.

Silence rained down on us as I heard the steady hum of the engine lull me into a state of half sleep and half awareness. It was odd the tricks a mind can play on themselves. Voices mixed in with each other to the point that I didn't know if I was actually hearing them or if it was my imagination. A gentle shaking of my shoulder brought me out of the half and half world I'd let myself.

"Come on Bella. Wake up." I wiped my eyes as I continued to stare at blackness. I nodded and sat up straighter, unbuckling my belt with a fumbling hand.

Once I was out and had a hold of Moonlight vest handles we began walking...on an unfamiliar trail. The air was different and yet similar to what I'd been in before at some other time. Silence enveloped us and yet I found I did not mind. Silence with other people was something I usually tried to avoid because the uncomfortable feelings they brought but with Edward this silence was companionable. I felt no need to break it and it seemed he felt the same for he made no attempt to speak.

His footfalls were as silent as always and his breathing wasn't their but I knew he was because his hand was wrapped around my own. Time passed amazingly fast but I was not fooled I knew that at least an hour and a half had passed and it made me wonder if Edward knew where we were going.

Smell, taste, touch, hearing are all part of the five senses that every animal and human is born with, the fifth being sight. I've heard people say that its hard to distinguish all five senses by themselves because their minds always accept the larger picture of what all five senses are telling it, and don't always focus on the individual data of each. I knew this to be somewhat true...seeing as I had only four of the five senses I couldn't be sure if it was exactly the same but my four senses worked in much the same way blending all the information together and sending it to my brain in one big picture. But I unlike most others had learned to pay attention to the individual senses for they could often tell more then just the general picture.

I smelled wild flowers and afternoon air, I heard birds of different types chirping away songs not of joy but of territory, I felt the sun shine down on my skin warming it pleasantly. I could almost taste the pine needles on the pine trees that surrounded us. (Pine needles were something that James had often made tea with, to give it flavor, it had been my favorite.) All of this told me that I was in a place I'd been in before, a place of peace and nature, a place of wild and beauty. I, we, were in the meadow. The place I'd been to only once and had felt so calm, so at ease that I fell asleep to a lullaby that still haunted my dreams.

I smiled up at Edward or where I knew his head was most likely at and i was rewarded by him rubbing his thumb against the back of my hand. His touch sent an electric like shock wave from my hand inward to the rest of my body.

He led me a little farther before stopping and telling me that if it seemed like a good spot to me that we could sit there. I agreed and with his help and Moonlight's I sat down and closed my eyes as a breeze dance with my hair lightly.

"So Bella, What makes Moonlight so special?" His voice was kind and patient and somehow my nerves lessened slightly, something in his voice told me that he would be there at the end of my telling. With a deep breath and a comforting lick to my hand from Moonlight I began talking.

"My mother's name is Renee and she likes to have fun, as in partying alll night. She never wanted a kid let alone a daughter who couldn't see. I know she never wanted me because that's what she'd always say to me. My mom loves her image...or more she loves how people see her image. She didn't want people to think she was a bad mother so she hired helpers...people equipped to deal with the blind.

My first helper's name was Annie and she was with me until I was four. Annie was the one to put together my birthday parties, my Christmases, Easters, and every other holiday. She was my mom in every sense but blood. She's sing to sleep and hold me when I got hurt but I made mistake one day. A mistake that took her out of my life forever...I called her mom in front of my own mother." I stopped for a minute as I felt a tear slide down my face. Annie was still my mother or at least the only mother like thing I'd ever had.

I felt a cold thumb wipe away the offending tear and immediately I felt calmer and then their was the pressure of Moonlight rubbing up against my back to let me know that she was still there and wasn't going anywhere.

With their reassurance I continued telling him everything and getting more detailed when it came to my time with James. It was truly because of him that I saw things the way I did and I hoped that one day I'd be able to thank him for that. Then I told him how I got Moonlight but I never answered his question. I wanted the information I had just told him to sink in.

Silence filled the air and I began to feel my fears creep back up, gnawing at the edges of my mind, whispering words of poison. I tried to ignore them but they had a powerful hold and part of me thought he words they whispered were true. Why wouldn't they be...I was messed up with to many problems...to broken to be fixed.

"Bella, I'm sorry you've had to go through that...an ang...I mean you shouldn't have had to go through that. But i do believe there is one question you haven't answered for me. What makes Moonlight so special?" His voice was cold and yet warm, angry and yet gentle. His emotions were conflicted to the highest degree and I felt slightly guilty knowing that i had caused it.

"Well, Moonlight was the first thing that I let get close to me after James left. I've learned that when you get close to something they leave. But when they brought her in and she just ran up to me whining happily at my mere presence...I felt loved. Like I belonged and i hadn't felt that way in a long time.

You see I live in a world of darkness and I've never known light. Never seen the rays of the sun I've only ever felt its warmth. The light that shines from the moon is something that has always fascinated me. I've never seen it but I've had people describe it to me in great detail and the light that shines from the moon onto a weary traveler is not there to light all his surroundings. Its there to light up his path and nothing extra to let him no that he isn't alone. And believe me when all else around you is black and you can't see a thing but you hear things moving all around you its nice know you're not alone.

When Moonlight came into my life I was merely existing...I didn't have anything to exist for so I was just there. Then she came and like the light that shines down from the Moon she showed me that its okay to trust even if there is that chance of being hurt. She showed me that I wasn't alone in my world of darkness. That's why she's important to me and why she's named what she's named. She's my Moonlight, my guide, my friend." My voice had gone quiet and yet stronger as I said the last few words and I could hear in Edward's silence that he was stunned.

Though I didn't linger on his stunned silence long because I'd heard something else, something that made me want to cry and never stop. Moonlight was Howling off tot he side of me, long mournful howls as if searching for something...or perhaps listening for a returning call.

"What's wrong with her?" Came Edward's concerned voice. I shook my head sadly and wiped a tear that fell at Moonlight's calls.

"I don't know. She's been doing that all night long. She searching for something and I don't think she's finding it and that's scaring her." My voice was sad and resigned. I wanted nothing more then to comfort my angel but heart told me that this was about something I couldn't give comfort for, at least not yet.

We sat and listened for a few moments and as I was getting ready to call Moonlight to me I heard a cry of a hawk. It wasn't calling out to see if anything answered it was returning a call, what call I wasn't sure. Then the sound of rushing water filled my ears...it sounded a good distance away but it was there humming a steady song. A cry of some kind echoed throughout the meadow and sailed into my heart.

I knew there was no running water around and I knew that hawks were scarce and I knew that that cry had been feline. But I felt no danger...I felt safe and it had nothing to do with Edward who had tensed up. Laying down I sighed as I closed my eyes saying goodbye to one world of blackness and saying hello to the one that greeted me. I felt safe and comforted as Moonlight stopped her cried and came to lay down beside me...nudging me happily for a minute before she to relaxed. Whatever was out there I somehow knew it meant me no harm.

A/N Ok, here is chapter sixteen I hope you like. I had a really had a hard time writing this...I mean really hard but it got easier at the end. Though this chapter was nesscary to build a stronger bond between Bella and Edward and for a few other reasons it is mainly a filler chapter that is going to get us to the last part of the story.

Also I'm not sure if hawks are scarce in Forks Washington but for the sake of the story say they are.

So review tell me what you think I'd love to know.


	17. Chapter 17:Haunted Poison

Chapter Seventeen: Haunted Poison

Every person has a weakness, a weakness that can let out their good side or their bad side. Society often makes remarks that murders, rapists, thieves, con artists are inhuman. That they have no emotions, no inner compass telling them wrong from right so they go to animal mode and destroy. But I've found it to be wrong even the worst humans were still human and though the lives they destroyed or took were not something to forget I've learned to remember at some point, the ones that had destroyed and taken, someone had forgotten them. The other thing I found wrong was that animals never killed just to kill, they didn't know what rape was therefore they never committed it, they weren't thieves what they wanted they fought to get, and they knew nothing of lies. So in all honesty the people who did said things did not go animalistic they went...human.

Though not all murderers are bad...no some kill for love and kindness but its those crimes that are harder to accept then pure hate murders. Because we're faced with the reality that if we loved someone so much and they were in just the right situation and we were in the right frame of mind that we to could kill out of love. Then there are murders that are committed out of pure instinct...most call it self defense...I call it survival 101.

Its the survival kills that are so hard to understand at least from the perspective of what society call civilized people. But its these people who have never been faced with situations that it becomes die or kill and eat...or kill or die...see in civilized worlds to kill is an ultimate sin. That's why people say prisons aren't for civilized people...but isn't it the civilized people who tell other civilized people not to kill and yet they shoot the injection into others veins.

That's not saying murderers shouldn't be punished...because there should be a penalty for killing...I just don't always believe that. that penalty is to kill back. Sometimes the guilt that some murderers feel is enough because like poison it slowly eats away, slowly paralyzing them .They try to make up for what they did but they can't even tread water...Jasper Hale was one of those killers.

He had killed for instinct and was saved by love and yet as much as his wife loves him along with his family he still wears that guilt. The guilt of which he'll never be free of.

"So what is your favorite book?" Asked Jasper curiously. I was over at their house a few days after being in the meadow with Edward. The rest of the Cullens were either gone or somewhere else within the house.

"My favorite book hmmm...Romeo and Juliet. Only because its one of the few books that I've been able to listen to fully and not just have excerpts." My voice was straight forward and to the point. I loved to read but there were very few brail books just floating around and even less that cost a reasonable price.

"Listen?" I felt heat rise up on my cheeks and nodded.

"There's not many brail books out there so helper read it to me when I was younger." He sent a wave of calm over to me...perhaps that was one of his ways to try and make up for all the wrong things he did. By trying to restore order in ever growing chaos when at one point in his life he had been the one to start the chaos and lived off of it the wilder the chaos got.

"Jasper, what have I told you about fooling with my emotions?" My voice was stern as I glared at where I knew him to be sitting.

"Not to." Was his sheepish reply. I bit my tongue to try and not laugh but I failed as I heard a giggle escape him. And like the last time we had been alone to have a conversation we had ended up laughing so hard we couldn't speak.

"Why...Why are we laughing?" I asked out of breath and still laughter wracked my body continuously.

"I have no idea...I just find you extremely funny." Laughter to coated his voice and it sent us over into another laughing fit.

Footsteps from behind me, though they were light as a feather, they were there and I felt my ears prick up instinctually. They were trying to be sneaky but they'd never dealt with me apparently. I felt the air right behind the couch I was sitting on stir and right before their hand had reached my shoulder I turned around with an eyebrow raised.

"Emmett, What are you doing?" Jasper had stopped laughing and I felt his eyes flicking back and forth between Emmett and me. Emmett was surrounded with guilty air.

"Um...nothing. I was just wanting to say hi." His voice was shaky and the guilt rolled off him in waves and I almost felt bad for messing up his harmless plan to scare me. I almost felt bad. Almost.

"Well, Emmett...Hi to you to." My voice dripped of sarcasm and was slow enough that I could have been speaking to a temperamental five year old. Jasper Snorted behind me and I shook my head in amusement a the both of them.

Suddenly the air shifted again and I knew the other members of the family had joined us...well most of the family...the ones that were in the house joined us. I felt Edward sit down next to me and then I felt his hand in mine. Relief flooded me as I was relieved of a pain I hadn't known I had, had. Alice sat with Jasper...her constant movement let me know only her general location.

"So what were you three talking about?" Came Alice's chipper voice. I still thought she was to happy and hyper and I had fun telling her so at every possible turn I could. She took it well to, just laughing and taking faster then she had been before.

"Oh you know the usual...blood, books, laughter, emotions, and then Emmett tried to scare me. He seemed to forget I'm blind not deaf." I made sure to keep my voice at a bored monotone. I sensed Alice and Edward tense up at the mention of blood...but they quickly relaxed as they heard the last part about Emmett.

"Yes, Emmett does seem to forget important thins like that. It gets rather annoying. I once knew a mouse who could remember more then he can...it knew how to get back to that whole in the wall when it saw the mouse traps...Emmett forgets how to get to his room...and still falls into the traps Rosalie is always setting up for him. They always contain hours of shopping, dancing, and just rapid talk that he isn't allowed to join in unless its to agree." My the end of her speech we were all laughing.

It was funny how within a few weeks I went from having only one friend to having a handful. It made me happy and safe and loved and yet...the more pessimistic side of my brain told me that good things never lasted long. That there must be balance in the universe for every happy thing something bad had to occur. Without balance everything spun out of control...and to many happy things had occurred for there to be no bad things on the horizon. I tried to block the negative thoughts from my mind and yet like the guilt that poisoned Jasper, my fear, my poison...began to inject its venom in me once more.

I felt Edward squeeze my hand gently vanquishing the poison for just a moment though I knew it would be back. It always came back. Laying my head on Edward's shoulder I felt him place a kiss on the top of my hair, sending my heart into a flurry.

For now the poison was at bay and as I felt Moonlight shift underneath my feet I knew that for now at least everything was okay. If a war was to come it would come. If a storm was to rip something, everything, apart then it would...no matter how hard I would beg the wind to stop it fury...or the water to stop its angry tears, or mother earth to stop her horrible howls as her trees are ripped up from the ground by the wind, or the fire that would come alive from the lighting burning all in its path. I would not be able to stop the storm that I felt must come but I could dodge the weather as best as a blind girl could.

EdwardBellaEdwardBella

Somewhere unknown.

He hated life...he hated existence with the dreams he was forced to have. Perhaps it was his fault or perhaps it was theirs...he didn't know, didn't care he just wanted the dreams to end. She had tried to leave but he killed her for her trickery and then like that the monster was set lose. But the man was still in there fighting...to escape...to stop the monster.

The man would not win, he could not win, the monster wouldn't let him. He would kill her...and as she took her last breaths the man would cry and plead no but his pleas would fall onto deaf ears. Then she would take her last breath and fall into death, while the man would slowly convulse and wither then stop moving, stop crying, stop fighting. When the girl died the man would die with her and that was what the monster wanted. For them both to die...


	18. Chapter 18:Hakan

Chapter 18: Hakan

Alice had decided to go shopping and insisted that I join her. Edward had laughed as I protested weakly...not wanting to be subjected to hours of mindless torture. She didn't seem to understand the fact that all the clothes she wanted to buy me were things I'd never see. I had told her that I didn't care if I wore rags because I didn't have to see it...her reply had been that though I might not have to see it others did.

Which was why I was carrying one arm worth of bags...the other hand was holding onto Moonlight's leash. Alice hadn't stopped talking since she had picked me up this morning to this very moment. We hadn't stopped shopping either which meant no breaks for food or rest. We had started five hours earlier and she still seemed to not want to slow down. My feet ached and Moonlight seemed to know the pain I was feeling for she had slowed down and walked slowly so as to ease the ache in my feet.

"Alice, what store are we going into now?" I asked not trying to keep my irritation out of my voice.

"Victoria Secret." Was her simple reply...but it was that reply that caused me to stop suddenly while pulling on Moonlight's leash to let her know what I had done.

"Alice, I'm not going in there...I'll wait outside on a bench ok." I told her before turning with Moonlight and walking away before she could protest. "Moonlight, could you take me outside t please and then find us a place to sit." Others might have wondered if she would be able to follow an order like that but I had learned long ago that she seemed to understand more of the English language then I did.

Within moments I felt the outside air as she led me out of the mall and continued the walking. When she stopped I stopped until I felt her nose nudging me at my legs to walk backwards. I complied until I felt my legs hit the back of something hard...understanding what was going on i sat myself down onto a cold hard bench.

"Good girl Moonlight, good girl." I whispered to her as I scratched her behind the ears.

We sat in silence like that for a good half an hour and as I was beginning to wonder where Alice was I heard the meow of a house cat somewhere close on my left. Coming from the opposite side of where Moonlight sat. The meowing came more insistent and closer as it neared closer to me and Moonlight. Moonlight whined in greeting as I felt a wave of safety bathe over me.

"Hey there sweet thing." I said softly as the cat rubbed my leg with its side. I smiled as I heard purring. Bending over I felt around until I felt both its sides...once I did I picked it up gingerly before setting it down on my lap.

It purred louder as I stroked it behind its ears...I felt it move up towards me until its nose connected with my cheek...I was surprised to find that its nose was warm not wet and cold. I was even more surprised when it's tongue connected with my cheek and it wasn't warm and wet like thought it would be but hot and dry. I kept my shock quiet as I continued to pet the cat.

"Are you a Girl?" I asked...a hiss was my answer and I nearly laughed at its offended tone.

"I'll take that as a no. So you're a guy...a very adorable one by the way you're acting." I whispered to him unable to contain the giggle that escaped my throat as moonlight sneezed at my comment. The cat only purred louder and rubbed up against me some more.

"What's your name huh?" I asked kissing him on the top of the head...immediately my nose was filled with the smell of fire and ashes.

"Where did you come from kitty? You smell as if you've survived a fire." Another sneeze from Moonlight broke the silence that my question brought. "Watch it Moonlight or you might just have to get a check up for those sneezes. I'm sure there's a veterinary clinic around here somewhere." I threatened as my gut told me that she somehow knew what I was saying to the cat and found it funny.

"Lets think of a name for you ok?" A loud purr met my statement and I couldn't help but smile.

I continued to pet him...not caring that people were whispering about me and my company, not caring that Alice seemed to be taking an extremely long amount of time. As i petted him from the top of his head to the tip of his tail I realized he was a rather large cat. Almost to big to be a normal house cat and yet that's what he was. He was just different then what was normal and immediately I felt connected to him...I wasn't what people called normal, I was broken or so they said.

I wasn't sure what I could name him it wasn't like he was mine...but it didn't feel right for me _not_ to. As if I was supposed to but i knew that was only my heart wishing for another companion. As much as I cared for the Cullens, especially Edward, I always felt closer to animals.

They didn't reject or question me because I was blind, nor did they make assumptions because I was human...no they took me for what I was. If they deemed me friend they were the best companion I could ask for, if they deemed me enemy then they treated me as such. I had been deemed friend in the eyes of this feline and he in mine.

So what does one name a friend who's company you are not allowed to have more then once? I didn't know...but I was forced to cover my nose as the smell of smoke and flame reached me, the horrible smell emanating from the cat itself.

"You smell horrid you know that right?" I whispered only half of me was joking the other half was completely serious. He only seemed to purr louder and a laugh bubbled up from my chest spilling out before I could stop it. As he rubbed against me I felt something change.

I wasn't sure what it was exactly but something was missing and then it wasn't, as if some knowledge I hadn't earlier possessed I now somehow did. I realized I wasn't naming him a new name but renaming him a name that had long been forgotten. Without knowing how I knew the word or what it meant...I knew his name. It was native American...what tribe I wasn't sure but it fit him and I didn't know how I knew, I simply did.

"Hakan. How is that for your name?" He touched his dry warm nose to my cheek once more before exploding into full out purr mode. His name made sense for him and the smell that radiated off of him...his name meant only one word; fire.

I was slightly disturbed as to how I knew it but something about Moonlight's steady presence and Hakan's cuddling demeanor...made me feel safe and calm. They were like a drug that kept me alert but guarded me from danger...and yet they somehow made sure I was not frightened. I started to wonder if I was truly blessed with to Angels.

The air is like a fly trap...it lures emotions in and people as well until we're all flies and then it picks...what emotion is strongest and most poignant. It does not care is the emotion is happy, sad, angry same as a a fly trap does not care if a fly is small and crunchy...or big and juicy. The air feeds off the emotions and mainly the one that's the strongest...feeds on it so intently that soon the whole air is alive with it and everyone and everything that breaths n the infected air is infected.

The air had been calm, peaceful...but no more. Though people still talked and laughed and lived as they walked by paying me no notice...I felt there was someone who was. The hair stood up on the back of my neck and horrified I realized that I was suddenly prey for some unknown predator. Moonlight had stood up and was standing in front of me a low growl pouring from her throat. Hakan to had stood up a moment before jumping down to the ground. I heard him move to stand next to Moonlight...low hisses escaping his mouth. I wasn't sure if I was relieved they seemed to realize something was wrong or be scared that they could see what was coming for me.

"Bella, sorry to keep you waiting so long...but I saw this outfit in this store's window and I just had to have it...and one thing led to another and I lost track of time which is why I'm here apologizing." I jumped at the sound of Alice's voice but tried to hide my surprise. Moonlight and Hakan had calmed their hisses and growls to a complete stop when Alice had shown up and yet the tension I felt rolling off them in waves told me that whatever threat was out there it wasn't gone and they didn't like that fact not one bit.

"Um...Bella, do you mind asking me why there's some kind of cat on your lap?" Her voice was puzzled and I couldn't help but smile a the fact that there was something at least she didn't know was going to happen before it happened to me.

"Yes, you can ask...he just walked up to me all lonely so i picked him up." I told her simply before going back to petting Hakan hoping to help extinguish the tension that still emanated from him.

"So you picked up a random house cat...a very big and exotic looking house cat? Did you ever stop to think that could be dangerous?" Her voice was amused and yet I could hear the seriousness in it.

"Yes and no. Oh and his name isn't 'cat' it s Hakan." I could practically hear how startled Alice was at my last statement...though I couldn't imagine why she would be startled. Shrugging it off I continued to scratch behind Hakan's ears...earning me more purrs.

"Hakan? What language is it? and What does it mean?" Her questions were innocent enough but once more I felt like they were hiding something they wanted me desperately not to find out.

"I'm not sure what tribe it is...all I know is that its Native American and that it means fire. It seemed fitting based on the way he smells." I told her calmly before standing and stretching tiredly.

"Lets get you home and to bed before Edward decides to behead me and set me aflame for keeping you out for so long." I would have laughed at her statement if I hadn't been overwhelmed by a yawn.

I felt the world going dark as consciousness slipped from my grasp...and then I was falling. A pair of strong but tiny arms caught me before I landed and yet I still couldn't wake my body up...it was like it had shut down and no amount of hitting or cajoling would make it wake up.

I barely noticed when Alice put me in the backseat of the car...laying me down all the way. My eyes were open just a fraction and what was visible was a blend of colors and haze and with one last effort to clear the haze and decipher the colors I couldn't. Giving up I allowed the darkness of sleep to capture me and hold me tightly within its grasp.

Before I slipped completely I felt a light pounce on my legs and the unmistakable feeling of four legs walking on me until finally the legs stopped moving and whatever it was laid down on my chest. A chest rumbling with low purrs and the unmistakable smell of smoke and ash.

For the first time in three years I did not wonder where Moonlight was...something told me she was not far and so I thought nothing of her as I fell asleep. The only thought running through my head was a word I had just learned..._Hakan._

A/N Ok so it obvious who he is...and to get somewhat of a visual of what his face looks like take a look at my profile I have a picture of him up. The other two will be introduced soon though I'm not sure if it will be next chapter or the one after that. I know this chapter is kind of rough at least it feels that way to me but I know how I'm going to bring the rest (other two) in but Hakan was by far the hardest to decide...and as time goes on you'll understand why he chose to meet her the way he did...lets just say its a personality quirk.

Please review...they encourage me to keep going when I feel as if I'm not getting anywhere...or having a particularly hard time writing a chapter.


	19. Chapter 19:The Man and the Monster

Chapter 19: The Man and the Monster

Some would say he was insane...and deserved to be locked up because not only was he a danger to everyone else but also to himself...and there was a part of him that laughed at that thought of anyone catching him...he would simply kill them first. Other people would say he deserved to be shot...killed...burned at the stake and it was to these people that a separate part of him...the part that was slowly dying would agree with. He did deserve death he never wanted to live like this...never wanted to be evil...but he had become evil...but he hadn't always been that way. The man in him fought to keep that knowledge while the monster tried to destroy any trace that it had existed.

The man had forgotten almost everything about his life before...except for one thing...her. It was the memory of her that kept him fighting to gain control...to not succumb to the monster's powerful seductive voice. It was her laughter...innocent and yet sad...as if it were unbearably lonely and in pain. It hurt what was left of his heart...to know that this angel with long brown hair and innocent clouded brown eyes that had never seen the ugliness of the world and yet felt it more clearly then anyone, was in pain and still laughed. Her smile made a ghost of one flitter across his face and a brief ray of hope and saneness come over him before the moment was over and the monster reared its head.

The monster knew that the only reason the man fought so hard to stay sane was the girl...his precious angel...Bella...the one he thought of as a little sister and as a daughter. For that he hated her. The monster wanted full control...but the girl gave the man a reason to fight...a reason to endure...and for that the girl must die. The monster felt excitement at the thought of her death...the thought of blood rushing from her neck...but first he'd play with her...take away the last of her innocence.

The monster felt himself grow excited at the thought of her begging him no and him not listening. For him to take this girl so thoroughly all the while having the man no he was powerless to stop it...well that would be almost as good as having the man kill her while under the monster's control. The man tried to fight the images the Monster showed him but he couldn't throw away images that were in his own...the monster loved to tell him he was weak...and the time was quickly approaching that the monster would show the man that he was in control and that the man was weak. He would force the man to rape and murder Isabella Marie Swan.

The sight of the traitor boyfriend of hers crying over her mangled, broken, and used body was enough to have him laughing out right. His family would be hurt they were growing fonder of her by the day. Oh yes the feel her slipping from life into death's cold unfeeling clutches and the sight of the heartbroken family was enough to make putting up with the man worth it. Because the monster knew with the girl dead the man would die to . He would have peace within his mind and not have the insistent begging and please that hindered his thinking process.

But the man had his uses and because he had his memories of little Bella and because of that he could have a conversation with her...gain her trust...get her away from the boyfriend...and then the monster would shut the man up by shutting Little Bella up forever. A bonus was that he would get to see how the boyfriend reacted along with his traitor family. No vampire who has any sense of pride for what they are, superiors to the human race, would befriend and date a human-their natural food source. Her death would prove to them where they belong on top of the food chain on rolling around in the mud with mortals.

The man seemed to agree with the traitor family...that it was alright to mingle among mortals...to resist the urge to feed. The monster felt delight in reminding him of how many mortals he had killed...some were for their blood others just to watch them die. The man tried to argue that the monster was the one that had made him kill and that he hadn't wanted to do it...but with everyday that passed his will to believe that was failing and he was beginning to give in...but never completely not yet anyway. He would Soon though...soon he would be nothing more then a slave to the monster's power.

Both the monster and the man had seen her on the bench in front of the store...a cat and a wolf had sat beside her. The man had cried top leave her alone but the monster had no attention of taking her there...no he wanted to wait he wanted to make sure she realized who it was that had her. It was for that reason that the monster was following her. She was sitting outside the high school...waiting for something or someone.

He ignored the few students who were still milling about...though school had ended a good thirty minutes earlier. The monster let the man take over just enough so that his voice would be that of the man she used to know. As he approached he noticed that neither the wolf nor the cat was with her...he was glad that way he would not have to kill them...it would have made everything more complicated.

He saw that Bella had changed as one must...after so many years...and yet her hair was still the same color...and her eyes were still a clouded brown. Her head had turned toward him as he approached and the monster felt a hint of unease as he realized that though the girl was blind she was staring him in the eye.

"Isabella, is that you?" It was the man's voice that asked the question...but it was under the monster's control. The monster was trying to ignore the man's insistent cries to leave her alone but the man was screaming loudly within his head. He saw Bella stiffen at the sound of her name until her eyes widened in disbelief.

"Jamie?" The monster smiled a horrible sight to those who looked...it was mocking and stunk of pure evil. Oh, Yes to her he was still Jamie...the man who had raised her for five years. The man within the monster cried with joy that she still remembered her nickname for him. But the monster laughed within his own my mind...and reminded himself that it would not do well to tell her just yet that her beloved James had died a long time ago...and that he the monster with no name had taken his place.

A/N Well here it is after four different pints of view I finally decided this point of view would be best. I know this chapter is rather dark...but it was a necessary chapter to have. Please review and tell me what you think.


	20. Chapter 20: A Special Reunion

Chapter Twenty: A Special Reunion

_James._ The man I had parted with at he age of nine...the one who caused the change to occur...the one who left me for greener pastures with a woman I had never met. And yet though i had more reasons to hate him then i did to like him...I couldn't he was my Jamie. The man that sung me to sleep and wiped my tears when I cried had returned to me...and no amount of abandonment could overcome the love I had for him.

"Why are you here?" My voice was faint even to my ears and I couldn't imagine the look that I knew must be adorning my face. What was one supposed to say when a person of their past suddenly popped literally out of nowhere. To anyone else it would have been suspicious...but it had always been a game of ours. He had wanted to teach me to be aware of my surroundings so he would sneak up on me seemingly out of nowhere...and never once had I caught him...at least not until it was to late, it seemed as if time hadn't changed all things.

"I was passing through...I had a business meeting to go to in Seattle and I heard from your mother that you had come here...to live with your father. Which I must say was something I never thought you'd do...I mean the last time you saw him was through a nursery window...seeing as Renee wouldn't even let him hold you." I heard his respect and pride in his voice...but his words were also coated with genuine surprise.

"Yeah, well, you know how she was...I figured I'd giver the life she always wanted...the one that didn't include a daughter...even if that meant living with a complete stranger. Besides he's not so bad." My voice had gone quiet at the end and I knew he would question me farther but unlike the many times I had been questioned by others I didn't mind him questioning.

I heard him sit down next to me with a sigh...I vaguely wondered where Edward was...he was supposed to have been here by now...and also I missed Moonlight but I was not worried. Moonlight had been with Edward...somewhere within the school and Hakan was home. I missed him...in a few short days he had wormed his way into my heart with his playful attitude...his personality clashed with Moonlight's. Moonlight was calm and caring and Hakan was playful feisty and yet when Moonlight would snap at him I couldn't help but be reminded of a mother scolding her son.

"So bad? That's like saying a murderer isn't that guilty when all evidence including an eyewitness testimony says that he is." His voice dripped with amusement and I couldn't help the giggle that escaped my lips.

"Really. He's not that bad...I mean he's been married to the police station long before i was ever born and some habits are hard to break when you're not used to having another living being under your roof. Besides I seem to have that forgettable quality about me." I felt him grab my shoulder lightly a few seconds after the air shifted.

"Isabella, if there is one thing I know about you its that you're not forgettable. Also I know all there is to know about die hard old habits and there bitches to get rid of...in fact there nearly impossible to change...but only nearly." I smiled at him sadly.

A sharp sudden snarl shook me from my thoughts on his words...swinging my head...uselessly knowing I wouldn't be able to see anything and yet i knew that snarl. Moonlight. Her continued growling sent shivers down my spine and I once more realized she was a wild animal...never would she be tamed and yet I could not feel fear. I recognized this must have been how those of long ago felt about the wolf and its pack. They were vicious when it came to a hunt or protecting each other, but they were also loving and caring to those within the pack, their songs always told a story, and their snarls always gave warning, their jaws able to snap a leg bone in half as if it were a matchstick.

"Moonlight." For once my scolding tone seemed to have no more effect then the wind that whipped around us. Her snarling continued and it was getting closer two where we were standing, to where James was standing. "Moonlight! You cut that out. Can't you tell my friends from my foes?" I asked her laughing slightly in amusement but more exasperated then anything.

Moonlight quieted her growls to an almost inaudible rumbling, sighing I knew that was as good as I was going to get. Moonlight could be extremely stubborn when she got in the mood to be.

"Oh, you know me Isabella, I've never been much of a dog person...and seeing as wolves are their cousins I'm figuring I'm not much of their kind of person either." James said with a laugh.

"I'm sorry I really don't know what's gotten into her...she's usually very kind even with people she doesn't know." It was the truth...it was for that reason that the experts on wolves considered her to be one of a kind. Wolves were not known for their kindness when it came to those who were outside of the pack. Moonlight had always been the one exception until now. Her actions worried me slightly.

"Bella who is this?" I couldn't help but smile hugely as the voice of Edward broker through my thoughts. He was the only one besides Moonlight who knew about how much I cared for James.

"Hey, Edward, this is James...the guy I told you about. He has a business meeting up in Seattle but he decided to stop here first to see me. " I told him and blushing at the happiness that coated my tone.

While I loved Edward with my whole heart and while he was the one who helped show me the way, James had been the one to tell me there was a path. He was apart of a happiness that was rare, he was from a time when there had been none to very little joy, and so from being from that time he was extra special.

"It's good to meet you. Bella's told me quite a lot." Edward's voice was polite and friendly yet a hidden note of warning sat in its undertone. I bit my lip to keep myself from laughing he was always so protective, as if I could break at any second...but then again when it came to him and his family I was incredibly breakable.

"Nice to meet you also." James' voice held nothing but warmth and yet it was filled with protectiveness as it always had been.

"So Isabella, do you want to go and get something to eat. I'm sure there's some type of restaurant around here somewhere. We can catch up about what's been going on in our lives." I couldn't help but smile widely and for the first time in a long time I felt like jumping up and down like a little girl told that she was going to get to have Christmas early.

"Sure. That would be great. Um Edward would you mind taking Moonlight with you, she can have her day off today." For once I didn't notice that Edward hesitated to answer and that when he did his voice was colored in uncertainty.

"Are you sure you want me to take her? I mean won't you need her to guide you?" I shook my head and turned in his direction.

"Yep I'm sure. Besides James is used to my clumsiness he did put up with it for quite a few years. Anyway Moonlight deserves a day off she worked so hard these past three years without a single break, and yet she still never complains." I said with pride in my voice and a small smile on my face.

"Alright love. Go have fun. I'll see you tonight?" I nodded and sighed as he kissed me quickly on the lips before pulling away.

With a final wave I let James guide me down the sidewalk away from the man that had wormed his way into my life and heart. And Moonlight who was still growling and no longer was it quite...I couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt hoping that she didn't think I was trying to replace her or get rid of her. I just couldn't turn down the chance of being able to catch up with James, he was after all the only older brother/ father figure I had ever had.

The car ride was silent and yet comfortable, we were both content to sit in silence. While I did not know what he was thinking I couldn't help but bask in the fact that if only for a day or evening i had my Jamie back, it was a gift I never thought I'd be given. For once I couldn't think of the repercussions of what it would mean to me again when he left because for once I didn't want to see the bottle as it was both half full and half empty. As I always had been able to for now I just wanted to see the glass as half full.

After about a fifteen minute ride the car ,which James had told me was a mustang Convertible, it stopped and I heard the faint click of the ignition turning and the sound of the engine turning off. Without knowing why, without realizing it for what it was hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I heard and inhumane voice hiss beside my ear.

"Thank you for making this so easy, Isabella."

A/N Alright every one here's chapter twenty...do I have an excuse for posting this so late...not really except a hectic life. Thank you to everyone who continues to read this and extra thanks to those who review, your words of advice and praise keep me going and wanting to write. I want you all to know that there is probably at most only 4 more chapter left of this story and then we all must say goodbye to it for it will be forever done, except for maybe some fixes in the grammar and spelling department.


	21. Chapter 21:A Last Hello, Goodbye

Chapter Twenty One: A Last Hello, Goodbye

I didn't know where we were except that it was quiet, completely silent. Not the silence where there's birds chirping and crickets cricking but a silence that deafens, where the prey are afraid to even breathe and the predators are basking in their power over them. I was the prey he was the predator. We had drove for an hour at reckless speeds and then he had slung me on his back and ran for hours.

Two things were startlingly clear as I breathed heavily and my heart pounded through my veins. One he was no longer my James. Two I was going to die. To die without saying goodbye to Charlie, a man to whom I felt a connection with despite are lack of a relationship. Without saying goodbye to Edward to thank him for all that he had showed me without meaning to, to tell him that for the first time in years I had allowed myself to love another person and that person was him. Without thanking the rest of the Cullens making me feel comfortable and welcome within their home.

I hadn't believed when people said that when put in a life or death situation in which death is more likely all the things you did wrong or would like to change surface within your mind, despite wanting to imagine the good things before you're gone from the world.

I turned my head to where there was movement trying to clear my mind long enough to catalogue everything I was hearing, feeling, smelling, and touching. The noise though little that his footsteps made let me know we were in a huge room, the sound echoed horribly. The air was heavy as if the air circulation was poor and a dryness thickened the already heavy air. My lungs struggled to breathe. The air felt hot as if their had never been rain to moisten it. It seemed to suck up the natural moisture in my hands leaving them feeling dry and hot.

"Where are we Jamie?" I couldn't help but to keep calling him by the name I had always called him. Something told me that despite his seeming animalistic nature I felt as if somewhere within him my Jamie was still there. Barely fighting to get out but fighting nonetheless.

"A place to far away for them to save you.....Isabella." I shivered as he pushed me down hard. I bit my lip to keep from crying out and cursed internally when I tasted my own blood.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked as I heard him take a deep breath and let out a growl. Pain radiated from my backside up into my back like waves hitting the ocean continuously. I heard a drip, drip, drip of water falling slowly from somewhere to the left of me.

"I can't believe you don't remember this place. After all he hasn't allowed me to forget it always going on about how happy you were here, playing and laughing. To bad they closed this place down....that now its no more then an empty warehouse." I was still drawing a blank as to what this place could be. Jamie had believed in taking me to a lot of different places, he had said "just because I was blind didn't mean I shouldn't still be able to see the world. After all I saw the world just in a different way then others."

"Well its hard to remember a place if its changed since i was here last." I told him softly not knowing what his reaction would be. I hoped it wouldn't be a bad one I knew I wouldn't make it as long as I would if I ticked him off and made him lose control sooner then he had planned.

"Such a disadvantage you have being a blind girl. I guess I'll have to tell you though it ruins some of the fun. Does Musical Art ring a distant bell?" I couldn't help the gasp that escaped my mouth as he told me the name. Memories unbidden came flowing through me making me relieve them.

_Music. It washed over me through me....telling me a story without words. _I had wanted to experience visual art but had never been able to until James had found the art museum designed specifically for the blind. There were small soundproof rooms that held one piece of art work and in this room music would float through the speakers. Telling with sound the emotion that would be brought forth if seen with seeing eyes.

_Dancing. Not caring who was watching at my complete lack of grace or coordination. James' laughter filling my ears as he held my hand dancing with me._

I felt tears beginning to form in my useless eyes. Whoever this man was wasn't my Jamie i already knew but now he was telling me he wanted to destroy me at the one place I had ever felt truly alive and no different then anyone else in the world. He wanted to destroy it by making the man I considered a brother to destroy me in this place. I could see his logic, sick though it was. To a madman it would make perfect ironic sense.

"What's this tears? You're weak. Pitiful. Even less of a challenge then a normal human. I would ignore you and let you go on with your miserable existence if it were not for the fact that your dear Jamie won't shut up about you." His voice was harsh but his laugh was even worse. Cruel and emotionless except for un-diluted hate.

"Who are you?" I asked with shaky voice not bothering to pray for a savior already knowing my fate.

"You already know. I'm James. The new and improved version. Though I have only one small glitch....when the stupid woman bit me Jamie held on as merely a whisper in my mind. A whisper that has gotten steadily louder as I grow more powerful. It seems the closer he gets to being exterminated fully the more he screams for his message to be heard, to be acknowledged. Sadly he doesn't realize I've already acknowledged his plea and because I heard it I've decided to destroy what he so obviously cares about. Maybe then he'll shut the hell up." His voice so calm as if discussing the weather and not the man whom had loved me. As if we weren't discussing my death.

I heard him approach me in soft measured steps as if they were a drum beat signaling the soon ending to my short life. I swallowed heavily as the footsteps stopped and i felt his coldness radiated off of him onto me.

Before I could open my mouth and speak he slapped me; hard. The force of it was enough to send me flying back until I slammed into a wall. I heard my leg crunch as I hit the ground and then i felt it. Unable to contain the scream that ripped itself from my mouth I let it ring throughout the air not trying to silence it. A swift kick to the ribs sent me doubling over. Wanting to gasp for breath but unable to without bringing immense pain I breathed shallow breaths trying to ignore the throbbing.

"I'm going to kill you Isabella. You'll never see that precious mutt of yours again, or feel your caring boyfriends lips on yours. You'll be killed by me someone you once thought of as a friend."

"Remember Jamie, when you took me to that playground and a bunch of little kids were crying because the ice cream truck hadn't stopped for them? Remember what you told me? You said, _" Do you know why they cry? They cry because someone ignored their pleas, ignored their hopeful eyes, I'll never do that Isabella. No one who truly cares about you will ignore you. Never should nor will your pleas fall onto deaf ears. After all for now at least if I don't do what you wish who will?"_ Remember?" Tears were now steadily pouring down my face as I heard James stop mid-step.

"Or how about the time when we didn't have a Christmas tree and I really wanted one so you took me to the park by a fountain and their was a tree. A tree that sung Christmas carols and I sung along as you did you. We had our Christmas there for all those who were out to see, not caring what they thought only knowing our happiness at that moment."

"Shut up!" His voice was demanding as he walked the last few steps to me grabbing my throat in a vice like grip.

"Remember when I had to do that art project for class and you helped me build the volcano. We forgot to but something in the bottom so the stuff would pour out the top but that didn't bother us, because we had, had so much fun working on it together."

"Shut Up! Damn you!" His voice sounded hysterical like a man already off a ledge and clinging tot he edge with mere fingertips.

Remember my lullaby that you'd sing to me when I was upset or scared? _" __Little Angel sent from Heaven don't you cry. Here I am I'll wipe away your tears....._" I felt his grip tighten on my throat causing me to gag.....though I heard him begin to sob. _"Little Angel your light shines for all to see..."_ He moaned a plea for me to hush but I wasn't about to now. Now that I truly knew my Jamie was in there in this monster somewhere _"....go to sleep little one and dream of places far away...of people of myth and when you wake you can tell me what adventures you had. Little Angel sent from Heaven." _By the time I had begun signing the last verse he was signing with me in hesitant bursts.

"Jamie, What happened to you?" I asked slightly afraid I'd lose him again. His grip on my throat loosened.

"I was bewitched by a monster and lead away from the only good thing in my life. Then I wasn't strong enough to fight the woman who had the strength of a thousand men at least, she turned me into a monster worse then her. A monster I can't beat......." His voice broke at the end as he began crying. He laid his forehead onto my shoulder as his shoulders shook. "You should run before I he gets control again, I can hold him off for a little bit."

I shook my head.

"I can't see where I'm going and besides my leg is broke as is my a few of my ribs. I'd never get far enough." I told him coughing slightly. Scared when I tasted the coppery substance of blood that came up with it. He pushed away from me faster then human speeds allowed and sat in the far corner judging my the amount of echo that came when he sat down.

"I'm so sorry Isabella, so sorry." His words sounded like that of a broken man realizing he had hurt the last hand that had been willing to feed him.

It could have been minutes or hours that passed as slowly my pain got worse, and it became harder to breathe. My lungs filled with agony as I tried to breath. Vaguely I noticed the drip, drip of water had increased to a steady flow and the wind was crashing against the sides of the building.

I heard a bang and a shout but pain was already in my mind.

"Kill me, please." was the last thing I heard James say before the world went black and I was consumed.....by fire.

_A/N Alright I know you can hate me. But if there's any defense I have written and rewritten what I had wrote trying to decide who's POV I wanted it in. Finally deciding to stay traditional._


	22. Chapter 22:World of Light

Chapter Twenty-Two: A world of Light

Light is such a peculiar thing for even when your eyelids have shut the light and world out you can see it. Burning into your retinas in a reddish orange cloud like flame. _Flame._ It had been consumed me, it burning my body charring my brain. But it did not hurt. It felt like gentle caresses and prodding of a caring mother or worried father. I felt safe within the heat though at times it got uncomfortably hot but never scorching. Luckily the heat had faded and still there was fire. Reddish orange covering over my eyes and eyelids like a warm blanket.

I didn't open my eyes to afraid of loosing the fire I didn't know if I was imagining it or not but I wasn't going to take that chance. I had never seen red and so I was unsure how I knew to call it that color. It wasn't the color I imagined it would be but it was close. Voices were all around me whispering light comforting words....it was as if the voices were in the wind, were the wind. I shivered but did not feel threatened instead the wind that lightly blew my hair was warm, soft. Like it was cradling me, singing to me a soft tune to ease my worry and fear.

"The girl is awake......" answered a light airy voice that despite its carefree sound held hidden power.

The voices hushed and I felt my heart pound but I did not dare open my eyes. Foot steps approached me my heartbeat grew louder, thumped more painfully against my chest, still I kept my eyes firmly shut.

"Isabella, open your eyes. Fear not the light, for it isn't going anywhere anytime soon." It was a woman's voice and it sounded old and yet young. As if it had seen to many winters and to many springs but was forced to carry on despite all that it lost and all that it suffered. It was age, it was wisdom, it was love, and without knowing how I knew it or how it could be possible I knew it was Moonlight.

Opening my eyes a fraction of an inch I was assaulted by the sights I was suddenly able to see. I could not control the gasp that escaped my lips or the fact that my eyes were not taking in everything. I wanted more eyes so I could make sure I didn't miss anything. _How could people only function with two eyes? How much did they miss because they were to busy looking one way that they forgot to look the other way?_

I looked over to where I had heard the voices before, what I found was not what I had planned on seeing. There were seven inhumanly beautiful people sitting together in a circle, if it hadn't been for their voices I wouldn't have known they were the Cullens. And in the same circle and yet somewhat separate were three others. The three others were different, wild, scary and yet there was nothing frightening about them. But that was not to say that they couldn't be lethal if they wished to be...I knew they could.....it radiated off them in waves.

They looked over at me as I stared at them all curiosity unhidden in my eyes. I was outside in a forest surrounded in trees...surrounded in greens and browns. Or at least that's what I thought they were. After all I had never seen them before and I only had what others had described them as.

"Hello, Isabella." Replied one of the three. His Hair was a orangey red and seemed to crackle in a nonexistent fire. His eyes glowed like dying embers as they stared at me. I shivered but as I continued to stare into his fire orbs I found kindness and humor in them. But also a rashness in them that told me he could very easily change emotions.

"Bella." I replied without really thinking about it. As soon as I had said it I closed my mouth determined not to talk again. But the man with fire eyes just smiled casually and nodded.

"Sorry Bella." He apologized lightly. " I told you that was what she wanted to be called. If you had just let me call her that I wouldn't have had to apologize and she wouldn't be afraid to speak." He complained to Moonlight who was still holding my hand. His face was contorted into a pout resembling that of a five year old who wasn't getting his way. Moonlight seemed to be the adult, even mother, in this relationship.

"I didn't make you do anything. You could have called her anything you wanted and I wouldn't have stopped you." Moonlight sighed her voice heavy like someone trying for the umpteenth time to explain the alphabet to a child that keeps asking why 'A' is always first and 'Z' is always last.

"Oh no you didn't make me do anything but I know you. I could have called her Bella the first time and you would have had every volcano, sleeping or not, erupting in order to clog up all the rivers and oceans. While the damage wouldn't be permanent it would give me and Raine over there one hell of a headache doing damage control. So yes I could have called her whatever I wanted but you would have gotten me back for it eventually." Fire Eyes ranted off like a teenager trying to explain how their parent had conspired with the fates in order to ruin their lives.

I couldn't help the giggle that escaped from my mouth as I watched and listened to this interaction. The casualness that the two seemed to share let me know that they had known each other for a long while and had seen each other at their worst and best. But what exactly was their worst and best I did not know. They turned to look at me as the giggle was set loose and immediately I felt heat rising up onto my neck and cheeks.

"Something you'd like to add?" Fire Eyes asked. "come on don't be shy." He prodded slyly as he looked at me in amusement.

"Are you two always like this?" I couldn't stop myself from asking, it was almost as if someone else were in control of my body. I had never felt so unconfident as I did now. Never had I been one to blush or worry overly about the reactions of other people to my words. I wondered if having my new found sight brought along with it a whole new load of insecurities.

Fire eyes openly laughed as he looked at me warmly and Moonlight squeezed my hand gently.

"Nope believe it or not sometimes we're worse." Fire Eyes replied cheerfully. A low clearing of a throat that sounded like water gurgling snapped the three out of our conversation as we remembered the others that were with us. The Cullens were staring at us as if they couldn't believe our easy camaraderie and the more that I thought about it I couldn't believe how easily we had been talking.

I knew why I was able to talk to Moonlight so comfortably though it seemed she knew more of me then I knew of her if these newest revelations were anything to go by. But Fire Eyes I didn't know him or at least I didn't think I did, then again in the pit of my stomach I sensed the answer in the knot that had made its home there, I sensed his identity lurking in the back of my mind. Like a ghost that haunts a house leaving the owners to wonder if its truly there or not. I sighed unknowingly scrunching up my nose in thought and was only brought out of my musings by a hand grabbing mine.

Looking up startled I saw that one of the Cullens had taken my hand and was smiling at me anxiously. Edward had told me he had bronze hair during one our many get to know you's. Could this stunning man before me with lean muscles and a crooked smile be Edward? I looked over at Moonlight and my uncertainty along with my silent question must have been burning in my eyes; fore she just smiled and leaned in.

"Yep, you have a very good taste in your _closest_ of _friends_." The laughter in her eyes made me smile as once again heat arose up into my face. I nodded thankfully her having answered my question without saying it out loud. It was embarrassing when you didn't recognize your own best friend/boyfriend.

Then again I wasn't even sure if he was in love with me as I was with him. And as mature as the both of us seemed to be the term boyfriend seemed rather childish and immature. I didn't love like other people did. I didn't see, even now, in the way other people did. I didn't hear the world the same way. Didn't experience it in the ways others did. And for that the way I looked at relationships were altered and different as well. I loved only out of trust. In a world where you can see nothing and can be ripped off and played for a fool at every turn you have to truly trust those you deal with and become friends with. But Edward had never lived in my world and for that he built relationships in the more conventional way. Where couples were able to have very little trust and still be together even for however short of a time it was. So I didn't know if he loved me or merely saw me as a friend. Or maybe he saw me just as a person who had needed help so he decided to peek out of his carefully constructed shell to do just that, and then slip away when the time came for me to leave. It was a question I would keep within my heart despite the yearning there that wanted to be in the arms of the one I had come to trust whole heartedly.

I turned back to him with a soft smile on my lips trying to hide the conflict that was raging in my head. I don't believe I fully succeeded for the briefest of moments something flashed in his eyes before it was covered up. He helped me sit down and then sat down next to me still holding my hand possessively.

Moonlight went and sat with the other three who were staring at nothing in particular. Soft slaps to the back of their heads brought them to the present and brought a smile to my face. I was still fascinated with the colors that was on everything and made up everything. The brightness was giving me a headache and I closed my eyes letting myself welcome back the darkness. But I found that still it wasn't true darkness, I wondered if I would ever find the blackness that had been my friend for so long. I figured I wouldn't. The price of sight was loosing the darkness and the price of having the darkness was loosing the sight. If you had one you lost the other and that saddened me. For I knew that being able to experience both worlds would greatly improve the world, make people more grateful for what they were born with, whether that be sight or the darkness. Both were to be cherished and both should be cherished.

` "Now see I go through all that trouble to give her sight and she chooses to close her eyes so she can't see." Fire Eyes' complaining voice broke me out of my sad thoughts. Opening my eyes I was once more blinded by the brightness causing me to squint.

"Leave her alone." Moonlight chastised lightly, humor present within her voice. At hearing his words my questions came back in full force. What happened to me? Who were they and how was Moonlight able to wear two skins? I looked over at Moonlight confusion brimming in my mind and it must have showed from my eyes as well.

"Now I do believe we do owe Isabella an explanation," I looked eagerly at there faces wanting to know which one would speak first. "Now Isabella ask us any question you wish and we will answer it to the best of our abilities." I sighed. So it would be I that would start the show. Some how that knowledge left me feeling hollow, I did not know these people despite the many times that I had been with most of them. My eyesight was teaching me this that these people were completely different then I thought they were.

"Who are you?" I asked my voice shaking but not breaking. My mustered up courage wouldn't have been able to fill one cup and I couldn't help but have my eyes focused on my lap.

"That is a question with many answers. We are called elements to some, protectors by others, destroyers by a few. as to me I have been know by many names Mother Nature, Earth, Caregiver, The Gentle, among others but you know me better as Moonlight." Her words left me reeling as I tried to catalogue everything.

"Like her I have many titles, names.....I have been called the Destroyer of all Things, the Cleanser of evil, I've been a symbol of hate, of passion, I have been called Fire, and recently I have been dubbed Hakan." I felt my breath catch. He had seemed familiar and now I knew why he was my Hakan. I would have known this if my world had been dark. So why hadn't I known in this world of light?

"I am known as a Giver of Life, a Fountain of Immortality, A Death Bringer, Water." The man's voice gurgled like water and in if what they were saying was true he was water. But how could an a man or woman be something so inanimate when compared to humans and animals.

"I am known as The One Who Carries Truth on its Wings, I am the one that people fear when they feel my anger, I am called a Sailors Guider, I am air, I am wind, I anger the seas and calm them." The last man's voice caused chills to race down my spine and I felt my hair blow gently in a sudden breeze.

"Does that answer your question?" Moonlight asked her voice gentle having seen my shocked face. I wondered briefly what emotions were showing in my eyes. I nodded.

"What are you?" I asked. Somehow I felt this was a better question for these elements weren't necessarily who's but what's.

"That is perhaps the better question. We are the four elements. Fire, Water, Air, and Earth. I am everything from the rocks to the trees to the smallest piece of dirt. And even a piece of me is in you. The same goes with the others. water lives in you, the streams, feeds my children so they can grow. Air gives you life, coats your lungs, and Fire cleanses the soul when to much chaos has consumed everything.

"We're also shape shifters. I am able to take any form except for fire, air, and water. If its living, breathing hen I can become it. And do not doubt that the dirt beneath is alive for it feels everything, do not doubt that the trees can hear everything, you've heard them talk. You've heard them sigh.

"Hakan can change into any kind of cat there is on this world but his favorite as you've met is the African Sevrial . I can not truly remember why the cat was chosen for him. You see we are not the oldest things in this world, we are just far older then those who live on it.

"Water, can only take the form of water and the man that sits here. He can not change his looks and if you were to touch him you would find he is not solid at all. He is water and that is all he is allowed to be, only he knows why. We did not always get along as we do now and this curse was laid upon him long before I or the rest of us met him.

"Wind can take the shape of any bird and the human form he has now. He is air and so that is why around the edges of his form you see his body fade into a misty haze. He to is not really substantial in the way humans are but then again none of us are." She finished with a soft laugh.

I shook my head trying to clear it nothing was making sense. Not my sight, not the four mysterious entities before me, and neither was the gorgeous man beside me who was still holding my hand tenderly in his. With a sigh I tried to catalogue everything. Every sound, every sight, every smell, every feeling, every bit of information that was being given to me. But there was one question that kept staying persistently in the center on my mind.

"Why are you here?" It was such a simple question but it didn't have a simple answer.

"For you. We are here to guide and help a chosen few in this world. It was no mistake that a wolf was able to make it through the guide dog program. It is no coincidence that she was given to you. Human choices are fates playground and Fate is human choices back yard. Their intertwined and even we are subjected to their reality.

But you, the blind girl, who's mother considered a mistake have risen and grown to be more of person then most ever do, who have the love of a mother. You had something most never get to have and therefore can't appreciate. The love of those who need not love you. In the heart of one woman who was only meant to guide you through the everyday decided to guide you through the most tender of years.

The love of a older brother who decided to not only take on that mantle but the mantle of father as well let you know that their was good in this world. That there were colors and images beyond what you could see. He taught you how to not hate the world of darkness that you were encased in. And because of his teachings, their teachings you have grown up to be someone that you can be proud of.

No longer are you the small girl who feared going to sleep at night because you didn't know what kind of company your mom would bring home and then you knew you couldn't escape if she brought home the wrong kind. You have grown brave enough to confront a family of vampires who could out fight, out hear, out run, out smell, and out see you.

But you stumbled we know because we have been watching closely as have the fates. The fates knew there was no one to pick you up this time and if you fell you would not be strong enough to stand back up on your own. So the fates decided to send on of us and when the time was right the rest of us would follow. I had already been taken by you, your strength, your courage, you love, and the goodness in your soul. So they sent me and because of choices I ended up with you.

You became my friend and in turn I became yours. I led you through the daily activities that one must do. But I knew the time would come when I would have to pass that torch onto someone else. I knew that, that someone would be the last person that torch was passed to and therefore whoever got it had to be the right person. We came here and the moment that I realized the Vampires were here and what type they were I knew they were the ones. I wasn't sure who would be the one to take up the mantle as your guide but I knew I had to at least get you on the road to choosing one of them. The perfect time came on that morning first day of school and I nearly got us hit. It was dramatic but it set the ball in motion so to speak.

And well as they say the rest is history." Moonlight ended her long speech with a smile as she stared into my eyes. She had orchestrated it all or at least to a point. Her choices had been like the small pebbles that fall down a mountainside and cause an avalanche. The ball would go down the hill but the choices others made because of the choices she had made decided how it got down the end of the mountain.

I tried to speak as my mind tried to process what she said but there was to much, to soon and my head hurt.

"How come she can see now?" Emmett asked loudly making me cringe. My eyes were closed once more and I couldn't help but whimper softly.

"Please keep your voice down. She can see because I made her able to see. But if she chooses to go back to a world of darkness she can but she must choose wisely because once she goes back nothing, I mean nothing, can reverse it. But also if she falls off the path she's on now we'll take away her sight because the gift of sight is just that a gift. A gift can be taken back if need be. We have given others this same or similar gift and only one has ever kept it. Everyone else has had theirs taken away." Hakan told him quietly.

I felt a soft hand on my forehead and a soft humming in my ears opening my eyes I saw midnight standing before me. Her smile was gentle and her eyes shone with tears. I felt my stomach tighten somehow I knew what that look meant.

"Its time to say goodbye dear child. Our job here is done, my job is done. I get to go home now and I have missed home so badly," Unwanted and unbidden tears began pouring down my face. "Do not cry, we must all say goodbye at some point but remember every goodbye is followed with a hello. And I'll never truly leave you, I am a part of you and you a part of me. Every rock you touch, every tree you lean on, every flower you smell I will be there. But I can't guide you any more. You must trust yourself and this family to be your guides now." Her words were so soothing but like a child I had to ask.

"Why?" She smiled softly before brushing away my tears.

"Because the moon must set," she turned away from me to stare at Edward. "You must guide her now, you must be the light that shines her way. The moon can not do it any more and so you, the sun must do it. Show her what all of the others and myself could not. Show her what it is like to be loved by only that single one. Teach her that not all families fall apart, that not all of them are doomed. You teach her and you will find that whatever cross you think you bear will be lifted. For you will have helped an angel."

She turned back to me and placed a kiss on my forehead before standing and backing away.

"Live well my daughter. That is the only advice I can give to you now. Live well." And like the true illusions they were one by one they began to fade until only Moonlight was left and with one last smile she to vanished.

I could not stop the tears but no noise issued from me as I sat there stunned at everything I had learned. Brokenhearted that the friend that had never left my side had now gone away.

I felt hands on my arms pulling me gently to my feet and when I looked to see who it was I was met by the smiling and understanding face off Esme. I looked around at the family I had always saw but never seen and now they were gathered around me. They were not weary of me, they were not weary of anything that had happened at least not to the point that they would shun me. No, they were standing all around me looks of understanding, warmth, kindness, and.....love radiated from them.

They were not leaving me I could tell that without knowing how and as I turned to look at Edward he merely smiled at me before pulling me to him gently and holding me. Placing a kiss to the top of my head he bent down close to my ear.

"Lets get you home. So you can rest after all tomorrow I do believe will be rather interesting....Emmett I do believe wants to play some pranks on you now that it isn't considered mean." I laughed softly as the family of vampires led me out of the forest and into an alien world. A world that I had never before encountered. A world of Light.

A/N yes there will be an epilogue and no I don't really have an excuse for not updating unless you'll take the excuse that I tried but nothing was coming to me. I had writers block horribly. If you have any questions put it in a review and I'll try to answer them. Please review!!!!


	23. Chapter 23: The epilogue that isn't

I was supposed to put an epilogue up for this story but the more I tried to write one the more wrong it felt. I realized that the message I was trying to convey with this story would have been contradicted if I had put up the epilogue. In my mind I know what happens but that is because I know what choices I would make if I were in the same situation as Bella has found herself in. This story was about choices, love of all different kinds, and an instinctual wisdom that can arise from the most unlikely of people.

Because of this I feel as if it would be better if you the reader came to your own conclusions about what she chooses, what she becomes? Does she chose to continue seeing? Does she chose to be blind? Is she able to remember the lessons the blind world taught her as she lives in the world of sight? Was she able to stay true to herself? That is for you to figure out. Because many of the personalities and the advice given are people/things I've seen. Some I've only met and some I've known for years. Some who's advice was just a passing thought and others who's advice was solely meant for me.

In a way I see a lot of different people in this story…a lot of different truths…and so to tell how this story ends with just one person does it a sort of injustice-at least to me. So you make the choices for bella as you would make them for yourself…and imagine where she, where you, would end up.

Thank you to all my Reviewers you all are amazing and awesome!!!!!!!! I lived and still live for your support on my stories. Their like my food and water.


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